Perception...Is it REALITY?

P e r c e p t i o n

perception [pəˈsɛpʃən]  n

1. the act or the effect of perceiving

2. insight or intuition gained by perceiving

3. the ability or capacity to perceive

4. way of perceiving; awareness or consciousness; view

It's raining...it's gonna be a gloomy day.

It's raining...awesome! I don't have to water.

It's raining...people will be driving crazy today!

It's raining...________________ (fill in the blanks)

How do you interpret the events that occur in your life? Your perception is a very powerful tool in determining whether or not you have a good or bad experience, or whether or not a neutral incident totally floors you.

Your perception is your reality, therefore, to you...it IS reality.

Have you ever noticed how different people can experience the exact same event, yet interpret it in entirely different ways? WHERE does YOUR perception come from?

Those inner voices are not easy to distinguish. Sometimes we just accept them as reality, but are they? Is it possible they are someone ELSE'S reality? Someone who raised us or had a large influence over our lives in our formative years or vulnerable moments?

Next time you hear an inner voice trying to interpret an event for you, CHALLENGE IT!!! Is it true? How many ways can a rainy day be interpreted? As many ways as there are PERCEPTIONS of it. Think of the voices in your head. Are they truly yours, or did you just assimilate them? THINK. Be your own best friend/counselor/confidante. Delve into those common interpretations and figure out where they really come from, and then become the author of your new, healthier inner voices. 

GET RID OF STUFF!

Get Rid of Stuff!

How much stuff do you have? How much stuff do you think you need? How much does it cost in time and money to care for the stuff you own? Does your stuff make you happy?

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”   ― Socrates

If you are feeling overwhelmed with life, it may be time to get rid of some stuff. It may be time to decide how much stuff you really need. I’m not talking about living a monastic life. I’ve tried that. I’m talking about simplifying life. Deciding what you really need and living by a personal mission statement.

“It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”  ― Dale Carnegie

After all the kids left home, my husband and I downscaled from a four-bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment. We had a garage sale and got rid of a ton of stuff. Some of the stuff we hadn’t used in years. Some of it was just too bulky to fit into our new home. After a couple of years in this smaller domain and realizing we didn’t need the extra bathroom and bedroom, which were just excuses to accumulate more stuff, we looked for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment.

“We need much less than we think we need.” ― Maya Angelou

Freedom

“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.”  ― Plato

The time came to scale down even more. Here we thought we had gotten rid of so much stuff, but there was still more we could live without! By eliminating the extra space, we needed less stuff to fill our new space.

“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” ― Martha Washington

Now, when I go shopping, I don’t get tempted by stuff I see that I “just gotta have.” I don’t have room for more stuff. I only have room for what I really enjoy. It takes about a half hour to clean the entire place. I have time to do things I love and am not a slave to things I have to do to maintain STUFF.

Simplicity

“Happiness is not a goal...it's a by-product of a life well lived.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

When you lose your focus on stuff, the world opens up to you. You have extra TIME you need to fill. Meditating on what you really want to do with your life is a great exercise. I still haven’t figured it out, but I am FREE to decide and not a slave to the tyranny of STUFF.

 Bliss!

Educational Links to Keep Kids (and their caregivers) Occupied

Playing with kids allows us to be kids again, while modeling curiosity, inquisitiveness, fun and team spirit. These are some links to websites that you can enjoy with the kids in your life "guilt-free." Enjoy! And feel free to add more sites to the list.

PBS Kids has lots of learning topics for kids to explore
pbskids.org/



Starfall is a free public service that teaches kids to read using phonics
www.starfall.com/





Funschool Kaboose has many topics for kids to explore, including preschoolers
funschool.kaboose.com/index.html



Learning to type has never been so much fun!
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/levels/level1.shtml

The name says it all: MATH is COOL
www.coolmath.com/



Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and...math MAJIC
www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/cathymath.html



National Geographic games for kids
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/

Elementary school games for kids
http://www.gamequarium.com/

Use Activity TV to interact with your kids on many topics
http://www.activitytv.com/



Smithsonian Kids is a museum of topics for explorationhttp://www.smithsonianeducation.org/students/idealabs/smithsonian_kids.html



FunBrain is just that...fun for your brain
http://www.funbrain.com/?wtlAC=tablinks,FENhome

Go on an adventure with Kratts' Creatures
http://pbskids.org/krattscreatures/login.shtml?

Mr. Rogers still lives on in this neighborhood
http://pbskids.org/rogers/



Homework or learning help needed?
http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/

Free stories for kids
http://www.storytimeforme.com/



Nick Jr. games for preschoolers
http://www.nickjr.com/games-activities/

Math games from elementary to ALGEBRA
http://www.mathnook.com/

Who is at Fault?

Children are born. A little girl...a little boy...twins...breech...normal...

No matter how they enter this world, all humans start out the same way.

Once these humans are born, how do they assimilate into society? 

What if they are left on a doorstep as part of a Safe Haven program? What if they end up living with their drug addicted parent squatting in an abandoned facility? What if they end up in the care of their grandparents? 

A man and a woman meet and fall in love after their children are grown and their former relationships have come to an end. They are overjoyed to start lives together, enjoying their grown children and grandchildren. The unthinkable happens. The daughter of one of them comes "home" with two children from different fathers, and nowhere to turn.

The "grandparents," who live in a one bedroom apartment, have to absorb three humans, all of whom are battle weary. The daughter faces mental and health issues. The grandson is unable to assimilate into normal school situations, and the granddaughter is developmentally disabled, still in diapers at 4 1/2 years old. 

The grandparents help the mom get on her feet with a job, while she and her kids sleep on their living room floor. They drive the grandson to school every day and help the granddaughter try to potty train. The situation goes on and on with no hope of ever ending. The bureaucracy seems never ending. The grandparents seem to be on the verge of divorce any given night of the week. The stress is unrelenting. 

Who is at fault? What should be done?