Small Things Lead to Bigger Things
Today I am taking a brand new, 3-ring binder into work.
There. How is that for thrilling news?? I am going to use the 3-ring binder to organize my internship stuff. All the stuff that I give to interns will be freshly organized into a new folder. The old folder is worn out and cracking at the seams. It needs some updating, so out with the old, in with the new. Sometimes, it's the little stuff that really makes a difference in someone's life.
I have a young man who has finally started to realize the importance of communicating what he wants and needs. He has experienced the "A-ha" moment when he realizes that what he signs is meaningful to others. If he doesn't know the sign for harmonica, he is able to mimic what he needs to do in order to play the harmonica. COMMUNICATION! He is a signing sponge right now - pulling out pictures and looking to me to give him words (which I can do with my 20-year old ASL vocabulary and a signing dictionary!). He seems thrilled when learning the sign for "eagle." Little things that are really big things!
Small things always lead to bigger things. My new internship binder will probably make me feel that the rest of my desk is not up to the standard, so it will lead me to want more and more organization. My young man's dip into the pool of communication will probably lead to more and more signing, including making demands and refusing to do what I want to do during sessions. Instead of feeling upset about him exercising his right to be defiant, I hope I will celebrate it in the spirit of the growth that he has shown.
What small things are happening around you on a regular basis? Sometimes it is difficult to see the small things when we are overfocused on the large things going on around us all the time.
One day, I called my dad in excitement. "Dad, P didn't kick me today!!" My dad, the engineer/computer guy/plant manager that he is, asked, "MJ, why do you work in a place where kids kick you??" I answered, "Because, today he didn't kick me!" It was a small thing, but a large step for my relationship with P. Great things.
Look for the small things - the accomplishments, the new folders, and revel in them.
There. How is that for thrilling news?? I am going to use the 3-ring binder to organize my internship stuff. All the stuff that I give to interns will be freshly organized into a new folder. The old folder is worn out and cracking at the seams. It needs some updating, so out with the old, in with the new. Sometimes, it's the little stuff that really makes a difference in someone's life.
I have a young man who has finally started to realize the importance of communicating what he wants and needs. He has experienced the "A-ha" moment when he realizes that what he signs is meaningful to others. If he doesn't know the sign for harmonica, he is able to mimic what he needs to do in order to play the harmonica. COMMUNICATION! He is a signing sponge right now - pulling out pictures and looking to me to give him words (which I can do with my 20-year old ASL vocabulary and a signing dictionary!). He seems thrilled when learning the sign for "eagle." Little things that are really big things!
Small things always lead to bigger things. My new internship binder will probably make me feel that the rest of my desk is not up to the standard, so it will lead me to want more and more organization. My young man's dip into the pool of communication will probably lead to more and more signing, including making demands and refusing to do what I want to do during sessions. Instead of feeling upset about him exercising his right to be defiant, I hope I will celebrate it in the spirit of the growth that he has shown.
What small things are happening around you on a regular basis? Sometimes it is difficult to see the small things when we are overfocused on the large things going on around us all the time.
One day, I called my dad in excitement. "Dad, P didn't kick me today!!" My dad, the engineer/computer guy/plant manager that he is, asked, "MJ, why do you work in a place where kids kick you??" I answered, "Because, today he didn't kick me!" It was a small thing, but a large step for my relationship with P. Great things.
Look for the small things - the accomplishments, the new folders, and revel in them.
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