Mindful Monday: Celebrating Progress, Not Perfection

I ran across this quote recently, and it really struck me. As educators, many of us are innate cheerleaders. We cheer on our students. We are often first to celebrate their wins. And more often than not, we make a big deal out of the little things to show them how proud we are. Afterall, it's about progress, not perfection, right? 

So why is it that when it comes to ourselves, we often don't take credit for our success? Why do we down play our wins? Or even worse, we don't even acknowledge it as a success but instead as something that just "has to get done". And while, yes, taking care of business is a part of life, part of adulting, it doesn't make it any less of a success. 

I think we should be celebrating all our wins, big and small. Did you wake up and make it to work today? Some days are harder than others, so that deserves a big woo hoo! Did you make someone else smile? That is most definitely deserving of a double high-five. Are your lessons done for the week? That's worthy of a happy dance. 

If we aren't focusing on the small wins, we are missing opportunities to focus on what is going right.

I challenge you to focus on your wins this week no matter how "small". Focus on what is going right in your world. Celebrate each and every win as though it was a home run. Afterall, adulting is hard and so is teaching during a pandemic. Give yourself grace and celebrate your progress. Don't wait to celebrate perfection.