Hello World Wide Readers,
We hope you had a wonderful week. This week was boring and normal for us so it was great. Ben, is somewhere, probably North Texas if I had my guess. I don’t ask much when he says he has to go out of town. It’s easier on both of us if I don’t ask questions. When he leaves it’s either for work or because of family so I just go ok, be supportive and continue on with doing my normal. I am in the process of reading several books right now, The Peace Index, The Fourth Wing, and Dare to Lead. Two are for work and one is just to keep my creative mind working. This week was fun. I was able to find an error in the configuration of one of the apps that have been implemented for faculty and staff, so district is going to look at correcting the issue. They did a soft launch of the app, so finding it now instead of later saved a major flood of emails hitting our mailboxes. So I am sure your thinking, ok so what?
Well we will answer that question, it matters because being brave is part of being boring and normal. It’s not a requirement but it is important. Being brave to do the normal when no one is looking and when everyone is looking. Being boring and normal opens up you to comments and exposes your vulnerability. But good leaders, show their vulnerability because it is what allows us to connect with others. Parenting is the same way, when you show your vulnerable side to your older children, they learn how to be human beings. They learn how to care and be empathetic to others. The issue is that you can go from one extreme of being too logical and rule oriented to being to emotional. The best is to be both in the middle. To realize that there are always exceptions to what the rules say.
It took Ben and I several years to learn this. In our youth we struggled understanding flexibility. However, the more Ben mentors a couple of boys, he has learned to be more flexible and putting himself in their point of view to better understand the situation. Ben belongs to a group that mentors children who need strong male role models. So he has been doing that and helping out where he can. My experience managing and engaging with young adults has broadened my understanding of firm but gentle. Ben has really been enjoying working the youth and I have been enjoying mentoring the young adults. We maintain our normal and provide a constant boring normal stance in everything we engage in so we can be the rock for individuals to hang on to when the chaos becomes to difficult. Can you say the same?
I encourage you to try.
Anyway, have a wonderful boring normal life this week. Try to find a youth and just say hi. You might be just the boring normal person they need to lift them up.
M & B