Creating Action #2

The second class in this course was held on Wednesday, March 21, 2007. We had two assignments to complete from the last class. One was to do a success life line which I worked on and found that most of my early life successes were hard to think of but from high school to the present I was able to come up with quite a few. Most of my success has been due to just being a good person and making good choices. I didn’t find that I had developed any particular skills that helped me accomplish these things. The second assignment was to write an affirmation for ourselves and I used one that I have used for the last 11 years, a Bible verse: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

We began the class by sharing our affirmations and talking about how we can use affirmations with our clients. Affirmations are in a language that conveys that we are already doing it. We can use affirmations with our clients to help them set the tone for the day. To say “Today I am going to strive for patience with my toddler”, is a reminder of our focused for the day. Someone gave the idea of using a symbol that represents the affirmation. I like this idea because it keeps the affirmation for them…it isn’t for others to read and comment on but rather a moment of encouragement for the client.

We also talked about ‘success life lines’. One way to use this with clients is to break it up into decades (birth to 10, 10-20, etc.). We can also break it up into work success and personal success. We can also make it topic specific (i.e. writing successes, parenting successes). Many people talked about how they have used this with their families to celebrate what they have done as a family.

We ended by talking about ‘role models’. Many people shared about their role models. I was reminded of the value of role models in our society. I think so often we get caught up in doing it all ourselves and doing it our way. I know that I have a great role model in my mother and it made me think about my own girls and how I will affect their lives when they are adults. Will they think of me the same way I think of my own mother? It has made me more aware of wanting to be sure that I am a good role model of a strong, happy, Christ-like woman in hopes that my girls will want to be the same.