Resilience
Simple Connections
Sometimes the simple connections we have can be some of the most affirming moments in our lives. It is important to recognize them, let them fill your heart, mind and soul when they happen, and then let them lead you to your future actions.
Each day this past week I have had several of these moments and while each one of the connections with other people might have lasted for only a few minutes of the 10,080 minutes of time we each receive in a week, they have affirmed me like no others.
These moments were not found in sacred places, were not based in deep leaning environments or work environments, and otherwise could have been simply overlooked and chronicled as just another brief episode of my life, but there was something a little more that connected these moments for me in such a powerful way.
Each of these moments were with people that I had previously worked with, supported in their careers, and built authentic relationships with, that I can now surely confirm have endured over time.
This week, I ran into two individuals who I had not seen or communicated with in close to five years, yet, when they saw me, I saw their eyes light up, their spirits rise, and hope fill their hearts. We spoke for several minutes and shared a few catch up stories and then they said the following in back-to-back respective statements, “You really made an impact on our lives”, and “I’d work for you in a heartbeat.” As I walked away from these two individuals, I felt tremendously affirmed. I thought to myself, “The work that we did with each other together was authentic, meaningful, lasting, and made a positive impact on others.” I thought about this all day!
A second moment occurred not in person, but through text messaging. One of my most loyal and dedicated colleagues who I have known in some capacity for over twenty years, but had not spoken to for over a year, simply texted me to connect. During that brief text exchange we talked about his retirement, my work, and what might lie ahead for me. His positive words of encouragement, belief in my skills and attributes, and hopes for my future success were also some of the most affirming statements that I have received about my nuanced skills working with people. Again, I thought to myself, “The work we did with each other together was authentic, meaningful, and made a positive impact on others.”
Each of you might have similar simple moments that pass us by like cars passing our houses at night, but sometimes, when you pay attention, you can hear and feel the life affirming messages that are embedded in these simple moments. Maybe the moment will come in a brief conversation with others, maybe through a text, or maybe you will be the one to provide the affirming message to others, which would be amazing! My point is, pay attention to these simple moments as they could be some of the most life affirming moments for you or others.
Dr. Rob Martinez is “Resiliency Guy”. His new book, “Recipes for Resilience, Nurturing Perseverance in Students and Educators” is published by the Dave Burgess Consulting Inc. and is available on @Amazon. Dr. Martinez is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer for the Antioch Unified School District in Northern California. He is available for professional development, keynoting, and is always happy to connect to discuss resilience development in education settings. You can find him on social media @ResiliencyGuy #RecipesForResilience
Sometimes, Revisited for 2021!
Sometimes, it’s about being present in your world, and offering support to those that need it without hesitation!
Sometimes, it’s taking a moment to see the love that is in your world and making a decision to give love back to the world!
Sometimes, it’s facing a small issue that has held you back, and making a determination to persevere, that leads to massive growth!
Sometimes it’s about appreciating the life before you, recognizing that each challenge of the past led you here, and moving ahead!
Sometimes, it is about hope, belief, mindset, that help build your goals and passions. Don’t underestimate your human potential!
Sometimes, it’s not just about checking off boxes in your plan, it’s about taking a step, re-evaluating, and then stepping again!
Sometimes, it’s about taking off the limits of the world, and recognizing that every successful person is a human being like you!
Sometimes, it’s about giving trust to those in your world, so that you free yourself to grow and expand your perspective!
Sometimes, it’s about persistence, seeing the future you, and knowing that you have the power to become who you want to be!
Sometimes, it’s about igniting a passion deep within yourself, or others, so that their light within becomes a palpable guide!
Sometimes, it’s about providing others with the skills, tools, insight, to empower them to face their challenges with gusto!
Sometimes, it’s taking on a huge challenge, one step at a time, with dedication and focus, to conquer the world.
Sometimes, it’s about letting your passion soar, unleashing the burst of ideas within your head, and about hoping to connect with another person.
Sometimes, it’s about listening to your heart, mind, and soul, and you simply have to know that you made the right choice.
Sometimes, you simply need to breathe, be #mindful, and be you.
Sometimes, you might need to give yourself a good swift kick in the behind!
Sometimes, you need to #TakeAction right now, and do not wait for the perfect time, because the perfect time may never come.
Sometimes, thinking that reviewing your work might be a good strategy is a great strategy.
I originally wrote this piece in 2017, reviewed it recently, and thought, this is even more relevant today.
So, give yourself what you need to be able to breathe.
Give yourself what you need to comfort your heart, mind, soul, so that you can take the action you need to take for you and others that are in your world.
You and they are that important!
Dr. Rob Martinez, AKA “Resiliency Guy” is a well-respected long-time California educator, author, leader, speaker, and builder of leaders. He seeks to empower others to lead lives with resilience so that they may in turn serve communities of learners. Follow Dr. Rob on all the social medias, and he is excited that his latest manuscript is in the hand of his publishers.
CARE
Care
As the year 2020 comes to a closure, and 2021 begins to rear is head all around us, I found myself thinking of a new theme for this year, and the one word that kept coming back to my mind was care.
I found that as the days of Covid-19 have dragged on, melded together, and seemingly have sought to rob many of us of our dignity, empathy, passion, and care for each other, I feel that it is more important than ever for people to simply care for others. I found myself asking everyone I met, or was saying goodbye to, to “Take care” when otherwise I might simply have said, “Bye”. And, I mean it, I want them to take care of themselves, take care of others, take care of strangers, take care to follow precautions, take care to keep themselves sane, take care to provide safe places for our children to grow, take care of our planet, take care of everything. I want people to know that in this context when I say to “Take care” I actually mean, “I love you”.
I found myself telling each of my children, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers, to “Be careful”. I want them to be careful heading out the door, getting into and driving their cars, arriving at their destinations. I want them to be careful with all of the interactions, to not offend, to help when they can, to not create stress or anxiety for others, and to not accept behavior that is offensive or debilitating from others. I want them to know that my words, “Be careful” when translated directly mean, “I love you”.
I found myself using the care emoji on Facebook more and more as this year concluded. I found that when I read a story of a lost animal, a lost job, and especially a lost loved one, I pressed that little picture of the yellow emoji man hugging the heart, apparently called the care emoji, and sometimes sharing a few words of support in the reply section, but this was not enough. I really wanted to reach out and hug my friends, tell them that I am so sorry to hear of their loss, and work to make things better for them. I want them to know that I wanted that little care emoji to reach out through the phone or computer to really touch the heart of the person I sent it to. I want people to know that my act of caring in this manner was not simply a reflexive act to push a button, but a true heartfelt message that sought to soothe their heart during these moments of pain. The pain has been extreme for many this year, like no other year, and yet, this little heart emoji is often all I had to tell then that I saw them, I felt them, that I wanted them to feel better. I wanted to make the world right, I wanted my efforts of pressing the care emoji to let people know I care, and yes, this really means I want them to know, “I love you”.
Yes, this year has been one for the books. A book I hope to never read again, and yet, this has been a year that has created much care in the world that has moved people to act who might have never been drawn into service before. Many who have never in their wildest dreams would have taken to the streets to march for what is right, marched. Many who in their lives would not have voted, voted. Many, who in their farthest thoughts of wearing a mask on their face to go grocery shopping, are wearing masks to protect others in their communities. Many who would have never reached out to others before, have been reaching out, holding onto others, fighting the good fight, and going far beyond what one might normally give to help others. These unprecedented acts of care are the shining moments are present in this craziest of years, and that I feel are generating a swell of positive energy and engagement that will bring forth a new way of interacting. This better way of interacting with one another is one way that we, as a people, are actually sharing care with each other, and to me this means, “I love you.”
As I conclude this year, my simple theme that will strive to keep in focus through 2021 is Care. I genuinely want my family members, my friends, my colleagues, those that are in my care, simply, everyone, to take care, be careful, know I care, and keep sharing care. By thought, via emotion, through action, from one to another, care for each other, care for people you do not know, care for the future of our communities, and keep caring. If we think it, if we feel it, if we do it, and sustain these types of behavior for the betterment of others, no matter how difficult the world becomes, we can hold onto our humanity and use this humanity to make things better for each other, if we do this, we will know, we love each other, and this must matter. Some might discount the importance of caring for each other, and yet, in its simplest way, this is life, to care for someone other than ourselves. So, one last time for 2020, I ask you to care, which means, “I love you.”
Dr. Rob Martinez, also known as “Resiliency Guy”, is a long-time educator, author, and resilience thought provoker. His book, Lead With Resilience is expected to be published in 2021, and he is available for keynotes and consultation. If your educational system or business believes he can be of service please reach out. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
The Weights of the World
Every day as we move through this crazy world and especially during these crazy times, many of us struggle with carrying the weights of the world on our shoulders. Sometimes it feels as though we are shouldered with more and more and more, until it becomes unbearable, and unfortunately, when we keep these weights held high and stacked upon each other on our shoulders and back for far too long they begin to squash us into the ground with each step we take.
Sure, using weights to gain strength is important, but as many a trainer will tell you, if you workout with weights that are far too heavy for your abilities, at any given moment, you risk sustaining an injury that can cause great injury to you, and may sideline you for far too long, creating even more problems for you and pulling you away from successfully meeting your goals of service to others.
I believe that sometimes you need to put all of the weights down. You need to release them from your shoulders, take them off your back, release your arms and hands, and stretch a little to give yourself some flexibility. Then as you reconsider what you want to pick up and carrying, I suggest that you re-engage with the appropriate weights for your heart, body, mind and soul, then move forward.
Yes, this is hard, especially for those of us who feel massive responsibilities for the people we care for, teach, lead, and seek to serve. Yet, if we don’t do this, we run the risk of running ourselves deep into the ground, with the weights of the world falling on top of us, and then not being able to serve those we seek to serve. So, drop the weights!
As you realign the weights you will carry, consider grabbing onto these weighty things first, prior to continuing your journey forward. Always grab your dignity and integrity first. When you hold your dignity and integrity close to your heart, body, mind, and soul you engage, interact, communicate as the most authentic person you can be. In every conversation, engagement, interaction where you are keeping your dignity and integrity in hand you will also tend to treat anyone with whom you interact in a way that protects their dignity and allows them to hold ono their integrity. Mutual respect develops based on holding dignity and integrity in each conversation.
Next, be sure to ensure that you are carrying compassion, care, empathy and consistency with you at all times. It might seem obvious, yet, if we listen to anyone who reports on the political landscape of the day it seems that those who should hold compassion, care, empathy and consistency as compass points in their decisions, actions, and goals, are frequently lacking in these three essential components in building a healthy lifestyle.
When those in leadership roles are lacking in compassion, care, empathy and consistency, we find that they place more people at risk of harm, injury, trauma, and often make decisions that simply are short-sighted, fraught with peril, and prejudice. We find that they lack the application of a theory of equity, which in turn creates an inconsistent level of response to every situation. When we do not engage our minds with a theory of equity, we disallow our minds from considering that how we think, act, and we leave our minds with a presumption of correctness, even though faulty logic may be leading our thoughts.
Each of us, in our unique situations must then choose the next level of weights we take into our arms, place on our back and shoulders, and we must do so with thoughtful consciousness. Possibly you will carry, passion, justice, ethical practices, for your people or issues. Perhaps you will carry emotional healing for others, or safety and security for your family. In any case, as individuals we must individually select what else we will carry so that we can do the work that we want to focus on, and live the type of life we want to be proud of as we continue our journey.
There is no one way, one choice, and yes, some of us will follow our past practices, and grab onto too many idealistic expectations for ourselves, yet, if what you grab has truth embedded in it, then it is right for you, and no one should dissuade you from your choice.
Now, I will ask you to not pick up these particular weighty items as holding them will take a toll on you that is not worth the effort. Leave the weights of deceit, lies, anger, hatred, righteousness, prejudice, racism where they lay, and work to ensure that they are released from your heart, body, mind and soul whenever they seek to jump into your life’s work. Sometimes they are sneaky and try to work their way into your life as a defense mechanism or faulty intellectual argument, but you are stronger than that, and can see and feel these most heavy of weights tugging you to the ground.
Now, to be clear, I am not a certified personal trainer in any way, shape or manner, and yet, I have worked to serve others for a number of years, and truly believe that each of us must take the time to self-reflect, consider what weights of the world we are carrying with us, reengage with thoughtful consciousness regarding how we maneuver through our world deliberately with the most important issues in our hearts, bodies, minds, and souls.
If each of us did this, and if we expected our leaders across our systems to follow these simple practices of leading with resilience, I think that we would all be in a better, safer world.
Dr. Rob Martinez, AKA “Resiliency Guy,” is a 33-year educator, author, educational consultant, and is completing his next book with the working title, “Lead with Resilience – My Story, Your Story, Our Story.” You can follow and connect Dr. Rob on all the social medias as @ResiliencyGuy
Lead Though this Challenge!
Lead With Resilience – A Thoughtful Framework
Dear Educator, Leader, Courageous Citizen, Business Professional,
You have the power, skills, and commitment to become the person who can help others make the difference in children’s lives to live, learn, develop, and grow in peace, in healthy, safe, engaging, caring places where their resilience can flourish.
As you do this, you be asked to serve a wide and diverse swath of students, educators, and community members, who need skills, inspiration, tools, hope, vision, and implemented actions that will positively impact their hearts, mind, and souls in a positive way as they do this work of paramount importance to our society.
Know that there will be challenges and distractions as you seek to persevere, yet believe in you, and in the lessons that you have and will be taught. Know that if you focus on building your personal resilience, adding skills to your tool kit and strive to fill up your backpack and those of others, you will be on the right path. Work to build your personal ability to never allow anyone’s doubts, perceptions of you, or hate, to stop you from striving to reach your goal of helping our children to experience and live the lives they deserve!
Build resilient educators, leaders, and communities. Build resilient cultures where a commitment to care for each other supports each person with being part of the paradise they deserve. Build and provide opportunities and access for students to grow and develop in peaceful places. Build and keep trust among and across your crew, community, and citizenry.
Take actions to support people, sustain your own actions and follow-though, and you won’t ever doubt your decisions or hold regrets that will denigrate your efforts. You must work to #ROAR for students! Find Results through Opportunities and Access via Resilience!
Simply put, let the life we help others live be the measure of our success.
#LeadWithResilience
Dr. Robert A. Martinez, a 34-year educator has worked to build cultures where individuals are respected, can flourish, and where the collective group of people place the needs of students as their primary concern. Known as “Resiliency Guy” across social media, @Facebook, @Twitter, @Instagram, Dr. Rob is working to complete his current book, “Lead With Resilience.” He hopes to bring his message to our broader educational community, and is focused on making things better for each person he meets. He asks that each of you #Connect, #Engage, and #Support each other through this important work of ensuring each of our children is supported through each of their journeys..
#ResilienceLeads – Find #Peace through #Calm
These unprecedented times require each and every one of us to provide patience, grace, and support to each other, our educators, support providers in our schools, and especially for our children. Parents drawn into the teaching profession with limited guidance, flying from the highest peak with new wings. Teachers drawn into full-time parenting, while still asked to continue their teaching profession and care for the academic and emotional health of children that they cannot physically comfort and cannot be sure that they can even access their outreach. Other support employees asked to maintain the infrastructures of our systems, maintain connections to our children, all the while being told that they should be “at-home” and secure their personal health instead of being out in public.
These are times that are testing the hearts, minds, and souls of the strongest, and yet, knowing educators, school employees, parents, and especially students like I do, I know that with the commitment, passion, dedication, perseverance, determination, and resilience from all, we will strive through this adversity to success! We will rise to meet the needs of our students in the communities that now hold them in the palms of their hands, even though so many of them are disallowed from being able to leave their homes for even the shortest periods of time.
Our educators, our school boards, our parents, our students, our employees, and the list goes on…we all must continue to turn to each other, rather than on each other. We must strive to be part of the solution, and not add to the load that each other is carrying. Again, I say, patience and grace for all as we all traverse this new future that none of us could have predicted or planned for. Yes, give yourself a moment, and please give others more than that as we look to create what has never been created. I have faith in the ingenuity, creativeness and the innovation of our educators and parents. The human spirit that resides in each of us, and especially in our children, will shine through even in these darkest days.
Last night while on my evening walk my wife and I saw the picture below, looked at each other and smiled.
She, as a teacher, is busy with connecting to children all day, who are lost in a world that is unfamiliar to them and they need to see her reassuring smile, hear her voice, and feel her care even if only through the internet. She is working to calm the fears of her fellow teachers who have not yet become skilled-up with the new technologies, internet platforms and resources that are connected to through social medias, and that they all will need to access and use to connect to children. And, she is also working to calm the fears of parents who feel that they cannot provide for their own children, even with the thousands of resources that the internet, social media, educational institutions keep pushing out and asking them to use without any type of real training or manuals.
I have been working through the chaos of government regulation, local politics, state and federal confusion, as we try our collective best to launch a new space ship into uncharted territories with propellers and duct tape for spare parts. I have been working to try to calm the fears of educators who are seeking answers to yesterday’s questions, and feeling that we must return to some level of normalcy, even with nothing being normal in our realities. I am working to quell the anxieties of so many caring, compassionate people who are all looking for the “right” answers and yet the solutions will come the more calm we become.
Love, care, compassion, grace, more love, and belief that things will be all right, are some of the ingredients we need to be mixing together to support our children. Also, please remember, there is not one level of recipe, which is marvelous to remember in these days. In fact, while making cookies the other day my wife ran out of brown sugar, and yet, mixed a concoction of white sugar and a hint of molasses, and the cookies turned out great!
As you move through your challenges trust in the calm you can create. Trust in the beliefs of #resilience, #perseverance, our collective #future, as these are essential parts of the solutions that lay before us. Remember, wherever you are today, the success you have had, the goals you have achieved, were probably not because of any one week, month or even quarter of school in your life! It was because of the collective growth, over time, that you experienced, and the supports you received through it all! You are the compilation of experiences that you you have had, the skills you used to overcome, and the memories that you have held onto that inform your future.
Our children will succeed if we remain calm and committed to supporting them, so I choose #Peace through #CALM and I ask you to do the same! Please, join me with turning to others and offering support, rather than turning on others and adding to the load they are currently carrying!
Thanks to every educator I know, support employees who receive a very limited amount of the adoration, our parents, our students, and our communities for your commitment to the children of California and beyond. To all of our employees, our School Board Members, and each of you connected to my Mt. Diablo Unified School District, and others, I see you, I value you, and I appreciate the challenge you are facing as individuals, and the ones we are facing together.
Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to support you or your children as we work together to continue to provide educational opportunities for all of our students!
My best to you and your families through these trying times.
Dr. Robert A. Martinez, AKA @ResiliencyGuy
Dr. Martinez is now the Superintendent of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. He is a 33-year educator, author, and speaker on issues of #Resilience, #Culture, and #Education He reminds everyone to #ROAR4Kids “#Results through #Opportunities & #Access via #Resilience for kids!” He is continuing his book, #ResilienceLeads that will provide a glimpse into his story, help you think of your story, and focus on the stories of those you lead.
#Transformation My #OneWord for 2019
#Transformation – My #OneWord for 2019
My one word for 2019 is #Transformation, and here’s my thinking on why you should also consider this word on a deeper level as well.
Many times, people make resolutions as they start a New Year. They resolve to do something they don’t do at the present moment, or they resolve to become something they want to be, or they even decide to stop doing something they don’t like doing that they perceive as negative or unimpactful.
In many cases, people start out with great success on their resolutions. Then, they tend to lose interest, and or the old habits they have honed for years, that they had become so accustomed to, ease their way back into their daily lives, and they return to their pre-resolution behavior.
I chose #Transformation because I believe this word adds some ownership to the importance of the desired change that I hope to be part of in the coming year. I believe that to focus on #Transformation means that not only do I want to continue to grow, develop, build my skills as a human being, I want to become more. Yes, I want to become more than my purposeful change.
I want to become more involved in my world, more connected to others in my environment, more engaged with my surroundings, more of a positive impact on my world, and I want to have these changes be meaningful to me, and others in my world. I want my heart to be filled with love each day. I want my mind to be contemplative of a life and future of success. I want my soul to be calm with my choices. I want my actions to be recalled as being positive, correct, important, and successful.
Possibly, by doing so, not only can I positively enhance my personal thinking on issues, but I can truly impact others to think differently, gain perspective, see a better world that they want to create, and in some way transform their thinking, their feelings, their connectedness to the world, and ultimately their actions.
If I am successful whatsoever then my #Transformation is not, simply limited to myself but could positively impact our world. Now, my end goal is not to takeover other’s thoughts, as some fear that Artificial Intelligence (AI) might seek to do in the future, it is to help others use their talents, thoughts, intelligence, to consider their importance in the world, and act in a way that creates the positive impact they also want to make in their worlds.
I often think that people forget their importance, they tend to think in groups, whether they are on social media such as Facebook, or in group settings, and they forget that their individual thoughts matter, that they are truly the only ones in their mind, and that their ideas, just might be the ideas that can change the world!
Some might ask these questions:
Is it lofty to think that if I were able to create a positive impact on the world that it would be a good thing?
Is it self-indulgent to believe that if I focus, strive, and work towards helping others see the world as a place where positivity can create more positivity that my actions are a waste of time?
Is it self-involved to consider the possible positive impact that could occur on society if I were to be successful in getting just one other person to stop, think a little deeper, think twice as my father would say, and consider an alternative to meanness, violence, anger, hostility, self-doubt, frustration, depression, negativity, or ill thoughts directed at anyone?
Is it really that important that we teach children that it is their responsibility to be nice, be kind, be compassionate, be caring, be thoughtful, be intentional, be purposeful, be considerate, be conscious, be a part, be in the moment, be a positive actor in the world, and be themselves?
Well, I can deal with those who might ask these types of questions and even doubters who often think we should just believe what everyone is selling, especially, if one, at least one other person, says, “I’ll try. I’ll try to be more thoughtful, more contemplative, more connected, more of the person I want to be.”
The Point!
You see my friends, I believe that #Transformation happens on a deeper level.
I often write on issues of #Resilience, and I speak on the importance of the heart, mind, soul, and actions, and I believe that if you really want to transform that your focus must occur in each of these areas.
Your Heart: You must choose to focus on love, empathy and understanding that will connect you to others in your world. This could be family, friends, and or others who need you, or you actually might need them. We must connect with our hearts as humans.
Your Mind: You must use your thoughts, intelligence, and contemplative nature to see a positive future, the impacts of your decisions, the consequences of your ideas. Connect to others, your work, use your talents, and use the synergy from these connections to build a place where you and others can grow in peace.
Your Soul: On a deeper level you must have faith in something or someone. Faith in yourself, others, something that connects us to each other. Some believe in God, religion, or a structure of thoughts that helps them keeps moving us forward. I believe that it doesn’t have to be one way, or another, but to help yourself be a larger part of this world, I believe that it helps to believe in something.
Your Actions: This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where you are seen by the world. This is where what you do is acknowledged by others as who you are, so I say to you, make your actions count, make them meaningful, make them memorable, make them positive, own them, and enjoy them! Your actions become your book cover, your chapters, your paragraphs, your story, so make sure that they are written well!
Is this post deeper than you anticipated? Is it top level stuff, and your brain is seeking to go deeper? Are you thinking that I have completely lost it? Well, let me ease your thinking. Yes, it’s a little deep, yes, I want your brain to search for more answers, and no I have not completely lost it.
Basically, let your heart, mind, soul, and actions be your guide. And, work on building the information in each of these areas so that your guide is well-built, well-educated, has resources, and can help you be a better you!
#Transformation for 2019, my one word. What’s yours?
Dr. Rob Martinez, AKA “Resiliency Guy”
Dr. Rob Martinez, is a 32-year educator, and is becoming well known as “Resiliency Guy.” He focuses on building educational environments where children can grow and develop in peace, and often says, “Let the life we help others live be the measure of our success.”
He is available for #keynote addresses, educational consultation, life coaching, and recently authored and published, “The Story of Sparkle and Shine” as an Amazon Kindle E-Book.
He is currently authoring, “Lead with Resilience, in Your Heart, Mind, Soul and Actions.” And “Robbie the Resilient Caterpillar.”
#SEEKBEAUTY – My 2018 Theme
#SeekBeauty
As 2018 begins, and I mindfully reconcile the reality that this year I will turn 55 years old, I have tried to be more cognizant of the world around me, and the world that I assist in creating for others. Some might say, well, that’s maturity setting in, or others might simply say, finally. I like to think of it as continuing to grow, and my focus on seeking to recognize the importance that each of us has in the world and our impact on others.
Many of my friends and family members take time at the New Year to set resolutions, start some new habits, and or contemplate their place in the world, and their impacts on others, and I too have been thinking about what to focus on in this New Year., 2018
I landed on these two words that I hope will guide my this year: #SeekBeauty
#SeekBeauty in life, love, family, relationships, myself, friends, co-workers, colleagues, students, children, animals, land, air, water, food, fitness, learning, teaching, playing, being, all, #SeekBeauty
I know that #beauty is relative, and I do have many beautiful relatives, but that’s another story. What I mean by beauty in this case is to seek to understand the true, innate, beauty that is apparent in our world, that we frequently overlook, disregard, give little time to, and let slip away, when we should be appreciating it, caring and cultivating it, and bringing it into our hearts, minds and souls.
Life, love, family, relationships are the nourishment that we need to sustain our hearts, minds, souls, and yet, so many times we take for granted those that are in our lives, love us, are our family, and those whose relationships truly mean more to us than anything. There is beauty in each opportunity to grow these relationships that we must seek to appreciate. There is beauty in each conversation, touch, embrace, glance, and yet, we sometimes treat those we care the most about in the worst ways. I am seeking to see the beauty that is provided to me each day, and I hope you do the same. Notice, and appreciate each moment, and let others know you care, and see the beauty that is in them.
I am seeking to find the beauty that is in me. Yes, I might seem silly, and yet, the old question is accurate: “How can you love somebody, if you don’ love yourself?” In this case, I don’t mean in a narcissistic way, I mean to love yourself is to care for yourself. Care about what you eat, drink, do with your body. Are you moving, exercising, giving your body fresh air, water, nutrition that can help you? Are you providing your entire system with what it needs to sustain, to battle the vile parts of the world that seek to damage your body? Not one of us has the same system, so you have got to find what works for you, and then as the saying goes, #DoIt. Feed your mind, feed your heart, feed your soul.
Each of us spends time with co-workers, colleagues, clients, community, etc., and if we are wise and looking for it, there is beauty there as well. Again, this is not just a physical thing, it is in the way so many positive, good, caring people live and go about their lives. If you spend a few minutes watching the news you can quickly become filled with frustration, and disgust at many acts of a few, and yet, we frequently have hundreds of positive acts going on around us that we fail to notice by our community members. A door being opened, a friendly hello, a phone being answered, work being accomplished with service, a caring hand, a hug goodbye, are but a few of the moments that add to the beauty of the day. I challenge you, as I have challenged myself to see it, appreciate it, let it fill your heart with knowledge that people are beautiful!
Yes, the world that we live in is a beautiful place, and I also believe that it is up to us to create more beauty for our children, our students, our pets, those we care for, those who have lost the ability to see the beauty, though they still have sight. We must work to create beauty, be the best within us, and help each other #seekbeauty. I’m not sure if we will ever all get to this wonderful place that I am seeking to find, though I do believe that the journey would be a lot more pleasant if we all tried to create more beauty, and to find more beauty in each other.
Here’s hoping that you all #seekbeauty in yourself, others, and our world.
Dr. Robert A. Martinez is also known as @ResiliencyGuy He tweets, blogs, and seeks to share thoughts about the world, and our ability to empower each other with our actions, thoughts, and goals.
The Skies Out Tonight
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The morning of 9/11/2001, as I readied to go to work, and prepared to leave my wife at home with our two youngest sons, aged 19 months, and 1 month old, we were both crying, and upset by the news of the attack. I was a school psychologist at the time, and believed that my family was safe, and that I could be more use at work. So off I went to ensure that the children of the schools I served were doing ok. The rest of the day was a blur. I remember checking on classrooms, teachers, and many students who we knew had parents in the military, and or were on assignment and were out of the area. That night, all the planes were grounded, the skies were silent, and these words came to me. I wrote them down, and tucked them away. I remember reading these words each day, somewhat like a prayer over that first month. Today, as I was reviewing several documents that I wrote during that time, I found these words, and decided to spontaneously record myself singing them. No music, other than me. Well, the result is here for you to view, and the words are written below.
It is sixteen years later, to the day, that I wrote these words, and I believe that more than ever, we need to reconnect to the strength that we collectively have. We are a strong nation, and are stronger when we come together. I hope you find some relevance in these words, and I hope that you hold the hope in your life in high regards.
My best to you always, Dr. Rob Martinez, AKA @ResiliencyGuy on @Twitter
The Skies Out Tonight
Chorus
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
No planes fly tonight, they lay still.
The skies out tonight are silent.
But I can see
The American Eagle soar
Like I’ve never seen before.
He lives in us all.
And I can hear
The American Voices Sing
You might test our strength,
But we will survive,
And we will shine through.
Chorus
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
No planes fly tonight, they lay still.
The skies out tonight are silent.
But I can feel
The American Spirit
We’ll fight through the day,
We’ll fight though the night,
To keep it alive!
Our strength,
You cannot take!
Our hope,
You cannot faze!
Our faith,
You cannot break!
Our love,
Will overcome!
Chorus
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
But soon, they will roar again.
Yes, soon they will roar again.
For we all can sense,
Our American pride,
We’ve gathered as one,
We won’t be outdone,
We’ll fight till we’ve won!
Our strength,
You cannot take!
Our hope,
You cannot faze!
Our faith,
You cannot break!
Our love,
Will overcome!
The skies out tonight are silent.
The skies out tonight are silent.
(To fade)
Written by
Robert A. Martinez, Ed.D.
9/11/01
Passion! What Will Lead You, To Lead Them?
Passion! What will lead you, to lead them?
As another school year is just around the bend, I found myself in reflection on the following: “Passion! What will lead me to lead them?” I heard my dad’s feint voice telling me over and over, “If you follow your passion, you won’t ever feel that you are wasting a day.” He said this to me as a child, as a student, as a parent, and every time I would share with him about the toils of my day as an educator, and now I reflect on these words practically every day.
Quite frankly, I have many personal passions in my life: my wife, my life, my children, my friends, my health, having fun, my pets, my children’s friends, and the list goes on. And, then, I think about my professional passions, which I focus on and include many #educational issues such as: #resilience, #equity, #access for #opportunity, #engagement strategies, #inclusion, #support, #thoughtfulness, #puposeful approaches, #empowerment, and #leadership, to name a few.
So, as all of these ideas are flying through my frontal lobe, and competing for priority status within my mind, it could be overwhelming without employing strategies for reflection, self-accountability, strategizing, planning for actions, and actual follow through. I do this by not simply hoping that I can make a difference and improve the state of these issues in the world, though hope is absolutely needed as a strategy to effect change. I do this by making a determination to actually create an impact in my world with respect to these issues, and then by doing something about my thoughts.
Here are my examples: I think, I conducted research, I write, I speak, I engage about #resilience. I provide my mind with data regarding the lack of #equity and the importance of #opportunities for all children by reading, listening, and tracking the issues that interest me. I learn about #engagement strategies by participating in professional development, staying abreast of the latest in technology, and by communicating to those that have knowledge in my immediate circles, and through social media. Yes, a big thank you to #twitter, #Facebook, #linkedin, #instagram, and to those that seek to share ideas through these social media connections.
I am focused on listening, watching, and learning all of the time. I work to be #inclusive in my work place, remain committed to opportunities to learn about people, and strive to offer #support when I can to all. I work hard to be #purposeful in my words, actions, and deeds, to make a positive difference, and to not place any boundaries in front of others. I seek to #empower each person that I meet to think, to challenge themselves, to build a new skill or reclaim an old one, to take that step towards personal fulfillment, and to make decisions that positively impact them and those in their worlds. Dear reader, I seek to #lead!
Now, I say all this, not to receive a pat on the back, though that would be #awesome! I say this as a way to continue to challenge myself with the aspiration of striving to truly become this person. For the cumulative effects of being this person to those I am passionate about, and improving the work that I am passionate about and focused on, is the goal! If I were to be this person, if I were to strive to become this person, if I am able to get one step closer to being this person, then, I have to believe that the world of others just might be a little bit better, and truly, what loftier goal is there?
So, now, I ask you to consider: “Passion, what will lead you to lead them?” Are you a child, a student, a parent, an educator, a committed individual who wants to change the world? What is your passion? How are you living it? How are you striving to become who you want to be? How are you strategizing and implementing the actions that are part of your goals, you plan, your life? Who is it that you will lead to a better place? And, should you continue to wait to plan, or get started becoming who you want to be?
Caution now, as there is no need to eat the whole apple with one bite! The journey to becoming you, and following your passion, is a trip to be savored one bite at a time. Your steps are each important, and need to be recognized as part of the approach to who you will become. Yet, you do recall that this is a one-time ticket to your life, right? So I truly hope that you make a decision to take that step, think consciously about what you are passionate about, plan just one step, and get moving.
@ResiliencyGuy AKA Dr. Rob, Robert A. Martinez, Ed.D., is currently the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. He presents and engages on the importance of “Transformational Resilience” and seeks to build the capacity of those he meets to support the development of #Resilince for all children. Follow him on @Twitter as @ResiliencyGuy or @DrRobM_FSUSD, or on Facebook as “Resiliency Guy”
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