Beneath the Wraps: Celebrating You - It's All Okay, part 2

As with yesterday, I will use this font for the agenda of the activity, things taught and learned. I will use this font for my own thoughts and (unfortunately) wandering mind and quotes that don't have pictures

Each of the instructors had the option to decorate their room or boards to go with the theme. I think the next class I had gone was decorated in balloons. I had enjoyed this class the most. It was taught by Sister Tieger, a kindergarten teacher. The subject: Celebrate Failure

"Failure is not the end of the world, it is the beginning of growth"

Nobody starts out doing something well. A child who is just learning to walk - there is a reason why we call them TODDLERS

We don't laugh at their accomplishment. They may take only two steps before they fall, but we praise them anyway.

We don't say, "You're stupid"

"That was really dumb."

"You're just never going to get it."

We say, "Nice try!"

"Good job!"

"Honey, that was great!"

We don't start out doing things well. We start out doing them badly.

Failure is not meeting the Intended Outcome

A picture was shown of a child frustrated with an activity - he either couldn't stack his blocks correctly, wasn't as fast as some of the other children, or whatever.

My mind wandered back to a time when Jenna was just a baby. She was quite persistent at trying to twist a cap off the water bottle and replace it. She had exceptional motor skills for her age, and was very patient. I think she must have used up all her self-patience during before she was six.

Continue progress with baby steps. We are all Heavenly Father's Babies. When we fall down, He is not going to laugh or call us Stupid. He is happy to see that we are trying and is rooting for us.

So maybe you can't do 20 sit-ups. Start with 5 or 1. Can't clean that entire room in twenty minutes. Start with what you can do in twenty minute, whether it is just the desk drawer or vacuuming the carpet.

Can't pick up the clarinet for the first time and belt out the tune to "Danny Boy"? What's wrong with you? You have to start out with the basics. You have to learn the notes and practice them. You have to start out badly before you can get good at it.

Sister Tieger gave an analogy of tobogganing down hill in fresh snow verses a well-worn path.

Sometimes we need to pause at the top of the hill. Sometimes - though the well traveled path is definitely the fastest, and will give us the biggest thrill - sometimes we need to celebrate the pause before we trudge on. Sometimes we need to start down on fresh snow to make the path for somebody else.

I thought about our pioneer ancestors, who really made a lot of sacrifices "forging the way for those who would follow"

last quote of the class

this was her handout, and though the cut wasn't perfect, she
kept it anyway, because wasn't that the whole point of the class

The next class I went to was taught by Sister Glad. I love the way she had decorated the board.

She passed out these pamphlets:

We spent the class time filling them out.

First question: Think of a problem you're experiencing these days that is on your mind a lot. Describe that problem in a sentence

2. What feelings come up for you when you think about the problem? List several

She read the 3 and 4 to us as we closed our eyes. She read in a very calming voice and told us to take a few minutes (she actually had changed it to 45 seconds as we were pressed for time) to feel the power of gratitude and allow our bodies to relax.

As a rule of thumb, I don't do well in silence when there are a number of people surrounding me and we've all got our eyes closed. I did well while she was talking, but my mind wandered for the 45 seconds. 45 seconds is a long time when it's that quiet.

5. What are you feeling right now?

For the majority of the class, the answers given in number two were pretty much opposite of number five. Not every sister in the class had changed. One seemed to have even harsher answers (apparently mine is not the only mind that wanders; she may have used that 45 seconds to go back to her problem - though I don't know)

The last class I attended was taught by a sister from my ward. Janine Super, who plays piano in the primary and had also taught the gospel essential class when we moved in.

Her theme was geared to Superheroes:

this is how she decorated her room.

She asked questions about Anikan (who became Darth Vader) and Superman. What were their strengths? What were their weaknesses. I was able to participate only because my brother, Corey, is an avid fan of Star Wars and my husband collects everything Superman related.

She first asked the class what were some of the character's strengths and what were their weaknesses. Some weaknesses we can repent of - like a bad decision to go to the dark side (even though there were good intentions to start out with) and others are challenges that they themselves don't require repentance (for example, Superman cannot repent for Kryptonite. We, who are vision impaired, don't repent for needing to wear glasses; it's how we deal with our weakness that may give us strength)

Do you allow your weakness to define who you are? Remember Brittany from my last post?

often guilt has a productive function - if it makes us have the desire to change.

Can you pray your weakness away?

I was reminded of a comment my brother Corey had made when he was being interviewed by Mormon Expressions. There was a time in his life that he saw his same sexual urges as a weakness that he just could not change. Over the course of many many years, he realized it was a desire that just has not gone away.

After decades of struggling and praying for his "gayness to be gone" and starting his own blog and finally realizing that his sexual preference was never going to change, he finally accepted and eventually embraced what some might call weakness, and he has made it his strength.

Sadly, he lost his membership as far as Church records go, but at the same time it was a necessary event that had to take place. And although he did not choose to become a pioneer in assisting to bridge the LDS Community and the Gay Community, he has really helped a lot of people through his blog. Kudos to you, Corey. May you start posting again! (LOL)

For her last four classes, Janine displayed this picture on the table she had set up

Pres. Dieter Uchtdorf, Harrison Ford, Col. Gail Halvarsen aka the candy bomber

I was also reminded of Sandra Bullock's line in "While You Were Sleeping" when Peter (the character) wakes up, and her character (Lucy) says to him that he is a hero because he gives his seat up every day on the train.

When he comes back with a line that he doesn't see as heroic, she reminds him that he is to the person he gives it up for. Also another post I created here

Weaknesses turned strength makes us more than we can make on our own.

Ask a child who his or her hero are. You may be surprised at some of their answers: