My daughter is studying to become a counsellor. She has an innate ability to connect with others, and in particular with children — I view her as a “child whisperer”. In her studies, they have been discussing microaggressions and she thought it would make a great blog topic. She was right!
Let’s start with a definition:
MICROAGGRESSION – A term used for commonplace daily verbal, behavioural or environmental slights, whether intentional or not, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative attitudes towards stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.
Remember, they can be intentional or unintentional slights. The important part is that they communicate negativity.
Today’s topic has both a professional and personal focus. I’m feeling particularly reflective and wanted to share my thoughts with you on a topic that is important to me.
My Boy
I have previously blogged about GRATITUDE … back in Oct 2017 (Gratitude- Happy Thanksgiving). Now, almost 5 years later I still think about it — actually, pretty much every day I try to find gratitude in things around me.
I want gratitude to frame a large part of my thoughts — as I believe this mindset builds my sense of hope, increases my resiliency and builds my optimism for tomorrow.
As I get older, I believe that I am seeing the world from a better vantage point. I find that having gratitude aligns pretty well with my degree of happiness. I look for opportunities to be grateful — certainly for what I have, but also for the new lessons that life provides, and for the people (and pets) who make my life better. There will always be stuff we need or want — it’s fun to have new shoes or a new pair of jeans. But, we know that material happiness is fleeting and certainly not related to gratitude.
When I think of the word COURAGE I sometimes think about the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz — although, truthfully, I never thought that was an appropriate name. He was certainly fearful and skittish, but he wasn’t a coward. He showed what it took to be brave when he travelled to Oz in search of the courage he believed he was lacking.
Spoiler Alert: The Lion always had it.
I have previously blogged about courage (The Necessity of Courage, Sept 2020), but I wanted to share some additional thoughts on the concept. As a reminder, here are a couple of points that I emphasized in my previous post:
Having Fear isn’t the Same as Lacking Courage
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.
Ambrose Redmoon
It Takes Courage to Lead Change
You build your ‘courage muscle’ daily, by being courageous in little things. Just do right.
The Power of Why 