Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - A note to welcome February

Welcome February.....for most in the Mid-west we awoke to yet another snow covered landscape, with more to come it appears tomorrow.....today I thought I'd give you something different....

Enjoy "White", a poem inspired by just such a morning as I looked out my patio doors at the winter wonderland one winter morning.

White

The snow falls, subtly winter arrives,
Pelting stillness surrounds.

The snow falls, a fresh blanket of pure
White pervades the twinkle less sky.

Diamonds glisten in the moonless night,
Beauty encompasses the orb on which life is sustained.

Sleep is interrupted by a quietness so loud
It beckons us to attend.

Such a miracle need not be announced.

Bleak no longer lusts for a season.
It is sustained only by our need for rest.

The snow falls, and peace, that sanguine
Reality, enthralls creation like a newborn's arrival;

A welcome talisman of a time that stands still, 
A time of childlike wonder.

The snow falls, a soft hand caresses the globe,
White.

(This and other Allen James poems can be found in his book, "From the Heart: prose and poetry from the depths of life" at www.lulu.com/spotlight/allenjames1961 both in paperback and as an immediate download ebook.)

Keep looking up.  : )   AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

January has come to an end, and with it a wintry weather filled month; wind, snow, ice, rain. The month held the gamut of expected seasonal weather, and there's still plenty of winter left.  For me it's refreshing and invigorating, and certainly just an aspect of mid-west living.

Our reading for January 31st comes from "The Journey: A Calendar Book",

"Care about your performance, but enjoy yourself" (James, 2012).

Throughout my years as a high school teacher, college instructor, and psychotherapist; I've seen plenty of individuals who create their own stress by being so obsessed by their performance they fail to enjoy their lives; overachievers if you will.  Being an overachiever is by no means a negative attribute to possess, unless one overachieves at overachieving;  worrying so much about succeeding they end up loosing the ability to "dance" throughout their life.

Overachievers do it all; play multiple sports; belong to multiple clubs, and hold officer positions in all of them; volunteer at the area food bank, nursing home, and hospital; and manage to do each of these activities well. Perhaps this scenario is somewhat exaggerated, but the truth is more and more individuals today are becoming caught up in the trap of overachieving. Overachievers have plenty to put on a resume to be sure, but they pay a price. They lose a sense of balance, and the consequences can be severe.

Overachievers are often spread quite thin. With only so many hours in the day and so much energy and effort to give, you have to divide your attention among a number of endeavors if you over schedule your time. When you feel pressure to excel in every area, you may lose the chance to discover a genuine personal interest or talent as you attempt to master all
your activities. Consequently, you are likely to lose sight of what you truly like and to get less enjoyment from the things you do.


The workload and time constraints of the typical overachiever leave relatively little time for sleep. In fact, sleep deprivation is common among over scheduled individuals, with many of them sleeping less than six hours per night. Excessively busy people tend to suffer from poor eating habits, as well. If you don’t have the time to sit down to three solid meals per day, you may have to grab food on the go, and such diets are often full of fats and sugar. We all need sufficient sleep and nourishment to stay physically and mentally strong, so if you have too much to do, you may end up sacrificing your health.

Overachievers often base their feelings of self-worth on their accomplishments. The more they do, and the more they do well, the better they feel about themselves. Reliance on external validation,though, can be extremely harmful. If you focus on the trappings of success, you can lose sight of your inner identity. Over-achieving frequently causes overachievers to forget self-worth is measured from within rather than by what others think or say.



If you’re an overachiever, beware. More is not necessarily better.

Care about your performance, but enjoy yourself, and always, keep looking up.  :)  AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading -

Each Calendar Book by Allen James has an inspirational/motivational quote listed every 10 days by renowned men, women, teachers, counselors; each individual "Daily Guide to Success" book has different quotes. Today's thought is one such quote taken from "A Teacher's Daily Guide to Success" which was said by William Arthur Ward, author of "Fountains of Faith", one of America's most quoted writers of inspirational maxims; "The mediocre teacher TELLS. The good teacher EXPLAINS. The superior teacher DEMONSTRATES. The great teacher INSPIRES".

In many ways we each are teachers. Whether we be a mother, a father, an educator, or a preacher; teaching is an aspect of all our lives. INSPIRE those with whom you work and interact to be more positive individuals by displaying positivity in your life.

It's not enough to "get by" in life; we must aim high to reach the prize.

All of Allen James' calendar books can be previewed and purchased on his author spotlight by going to:
www.lulu.com/spotlight.allenjames1961
www.jamesharryman2002.wix.com/allenjamesbooks
www.amazon.com

Keep looking up. : ) AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

January 29th's reading from "The Journey: A Calendar Book" is "Be respectful".

Just as positivity breeds positivity, respect demands respect. For the past 30 years I've been in education; a social institution which aims to not only educate children and youth, but adults as well, about the knowledge which is the basis of becoming a good citizen and well-rounded individual.

I graduated from Murray State University in 1983, following which I began my teaching career. Prior to this I worked as a desk clerk at several resort hotels and an associate in the retail industry. We're hard-pressed to find employment these days which doesn't involved dealing with the public. It was no different 30 years ago.

My day to day interaction with people, their personalities and their foibles teaches much about interpersonal relationships. Show others respect and most generally (there are those few who will prove unreachable) others will show respect in return.

Case in point, last year in my position of school counselor I had to talk with a student about their absences from clinical experience in a health occupations class; the importance of being on the job when expected and keeping employment. This wasn't the first time I had to address the issue with this student. Showing the student respect and meeting them on "their turf" so to say, determines the outcome of the communication in more ways than one. Not approaching situations as the "controller" and the "authority" with others is vital to their acceptance of the message being conveyed. The meeting was a good one, filled with empathy and compassion about what the student has going on in their own life which affects their responsibilities.

As the student left the building to head to clinical, she poked their head in my office and said, "You make me want to be a better person". I retorted with, "You make ME want to be a better person". Mutual respect demands the same.

Be respectful.

Keep looking up. : ) AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "A Counselor's Daily Guide to Success"

Our reading for January 28th is taken from "A Counselor's Daily Guide to Success" but is applicable to every adult who has ever held regular employment..."Recall the excitement of that first year". 

This certainly is pertinent to every stage of our lives; whether it be our first year after graduation from high school or college, our first year with a full-time job, our first year of the career you prepared so much for, or our first year after getting married.

The excitement of stepping into a new role in life can be invigorating; it can as well be overwhelming.  Like everything else in our lives, our reaction/response will depend on our state of mind at the time.  Living consciously (aware every decision we make, no matter how small it may seem, effects our next moment, every moment) helps our state of mind from being cluttered of obstacles.

Shakespeare wrote of the consequences of not living consciously in his play, Hamlet.  In his first soliloquy, Hamlet says of the world, "'tis an unweeded garden, / That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature / Possess it merely" (1.2.134-136).  Clearly Shakespeare is making a comment to 15th century England, and the world he knew at the time, the degree to which we allow "weeds" to clutter our minds, thus hampering us from making appropriate choices to enhance our lives.

Gardens must be weeded regularly for our crops to not be strangled, thus dying.  Allowing our minds to be an "unweeded garden" results in the same; lives which are stagnant and unfilled.

Worrying less about things over which we have no control (and we only have control over ourselves) opens us up to living fuller, more satisfying lives, thus making those "firsts" in our lives wonderful experiences to recall later in life to edify us and those with whom we share our lives.

Recall the excitement of that first year...and of course...keep looking up. : ) AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "A Graduate's Daily Guide to Success"

"Focus on today - then tomorrow" (James, 2012)

How often do we spend our to-days worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow?  I maintain we spend most of our todays in tomorrow, not appreciating the "hear and now", but concerned about that which we have no control.

What does it mean to live fully in the present moment? It means our awareness is completely centered on the here and now. We cease worrying about the future or pining over the past.  When living in the present, we are living where life is happening. In reality, the past and future are only illusions, they don’t exist.  Recalling the saying, “tomorrow never comes” puts this in perspective. Tomorrow is only a concept, tomorrow is always waiting to come around the corner, but around the corner are shadows, never to have light shed upon, because time is always now.

If you’re not living in the present, you’re living in illusion. But how often are we worrying about things which are yet to be, or will never be?  How often do we set ourselves up for disappointment about things which have not come to pass? Again, I maintain the answer is too much. Not only will living in the present have a dramatic effect on our emotional well-being, but it can also impact our physical health. It’s long been known the amount of mental stress we carry can have a detrimental impact on our health. If we’re living in the present, we’re living in acceptance. We’re accepting life as it is now, not as how we wish it would have been. When we’re living in acceptance, we realize everything is complete as it is. We can forgive ourselves for the mistakes we've made, and we can have peace in our heart knowing everything which should happen will happen.

As humans, we love to create stories. We love to listen to other people stories and compare them with our own. This is beautiful. In a way we could say the entire universe is based on one collection of stories, a cosmic story. The problem is when we feel the need to create a story about everything, we are living entirely in the world of symbols. We confuse the world as it is, with the way we think about it, talk about it and describe it. Reality though, is not a concept. When we realize this we are able to return to a state of peace and stillness.

Focus on today - then tomorrow....and always, keep looking up.  :)  AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

Today's reading from "The Journey: A Calendar Book" hits close to home..."Don't drink and drive". 

Ok...Ok...despite what my brother's think...their little brother isn't "perfect".  Last year I learned first hand about the horrors the consequences of not living by today's thought can bring.  Putting aside the obvious harm which could be caused to others for a moment (we're all well aware of the statistics I'm sure), the pain and suffering you cause to "self" emotionally, financially and mentally can be enormous.

More than a year later I'm still dealing with the effects drinking and driving can cause when caught doing so.  It's not healthy.  It's not wise.  It's not smart.  IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!!

Be the good decision maker you know you are.  If you're going to go out and choose to have alcohol, ride with someone who's not drinking or call transportation to take you home. 

Personal success cannot be reached when you feel bad about your choices or when you're not around to strive toward it.

Keep looking up.  : )  AJ