Practice makes progress

My Hooligans needed lots and lots of reassurance, especially the ones who consistently got sucked into the day-to-day drama known as high school. They wanted to know they were doing a good job. They wanted to know they were smart enough. They wanted to know they were lovable. They craved attention.

And, they needed constant reminding to think more positively (#welcome to the human race).

And, since I couldn’t physically be there for them all the time, I created a way to cheer them on from afar. Enter the Ms P-ism.

This is the story of how it all began…

STORY

One day, a particularly chatty student rolled into class, sat down, put his head on the desk and didn’t speak. SOOOOO not typical for him. I went over to ask if he was alright. He didn’t want to talk about it. So I wondered, as I do a billion times a day: What can I do to help?

Just as the bell was about to ring, I grabbed a piece of scrap paper and wrote this:

Everything’s going to be okay. -Ms P

Then I drew a happy face. I slipped the note into his hand as he left without me saying a word to him.

The next day I noticed he was back to his old self, so I thought no more about it and moved on to the next fire to put out (#Smokey the Bear).

(#only you can prevent HS drama) image courtesy of Google

The following year, he was assigned to my class again. We chatted for a bit about his summer and, before he took his seat, he reached into his pocket and removed from his wallet a worn piece of paper. He handed it to me.

Yup. You guessed it. It was the note I’d written him the prior year when he’d had a rough day. A 17-year-old boy had actually been carrying that little note around with him every day for a year!

I looked up at him and he told me this:

“You have no idea how many times I’ve looked at that note. And each time, I heard your voice telling me it would all work out. And, you know what, Ms P? Everything always did.”

Then he hugged me, told me he loved me, insisted he’d build a house for me one day because the school didn’t pay me enough, and then sat down.

HAPPY CRY!!!!

So with that tremendous success, I began writing affirmation slips every day and added them to an old jar I kept on my desk. The kiddos would stop there each morning and pick one out of the jar like they were taking a piece of candy.

They’d read it out loud to me then they’d almost always choose a second one to give to a friend. They loved looking at these before a big test or before asking someone to prom or when they had to talk to their parents about their grades. Most of them kept the small strips of paper in the back of their phone cases so they had easy access.

The Hooligans always told me the message was exactly what they needed to hear.

(#ms p-isms) image courtesy of my student

BABY STEP

They dubbed them Ms P-isms...just like the affirmations I say during Qigong class or the ones I write in my DDD messages. It’s amazing how powerful words can be, especially when they’re practiced consistently. Here's a P-ism to get you started:

Today, I know everything’s going to be okay.

So, what's the Baby Step of the day? Practice. Practice. Practice. And then, practice some more. Because practice makes progress and that's how you get to where you're going...

one Baby Step, one day and one Ms P-ism at a time.