[/caption]It's been a week since I reported to my co-teachers Howard Glasser's book "Notching Up the Nurtured Heart Approach". With all the present-moment awareness I could muster, I try to use the NHA in dealing with my son and my students. Like I said on my first post on the NHA, the hard part is applying the approach on oneself, especially at times when we feel down for one reason or another.
Good thing I've injected in my mind the power of "reset". What is a reset, you might ask. Reset is another word for "time out" - or in my own words, it means "back up, rewind, start over again." It means to"give yourself a chance to restart... to start anew."
In Notching Up, Howard Glasser encourages everyone using the NHA to reset oneself as often as possible... There is no limit to the number of times one can reset oneself (or even the children in your charge).
When we, adults, feel down, we are more prone to acting out or simply reacting to the situations around us. This makes us victims of whatever circumstances we are in. Thus, we react in ways that hurt others and ourselves. But the beauty of the reset is that it gives us another chance to start anew. The key is to be forgiving and let go of punitive ways of thinking... Indeed, the NHA challenges us to turn away from old patterns... When we make mistakes, we are prone to self-recrimination. But as we have learned, nursing the overwhelming guilt over past mistakes is a waste of time and energy... Yet, it is a reality... But with prayers and self-awareness, we can DELIBERATELY CHOOSE and be open to God's grace of forgiveness and start anew moment by moment.
A personal mini-story:
Yesterday, I was feeling lethargic as I went about my morning. But thankfully, my class went well and I was able to respond to my son's needs... By lunchbreak, all I wanted to do was sleep, but the sleeping quarters were a mess. My son left the pillows, blankets and a mesh of other things strewn in the small space. With all the good strength I could muster, I asked my son to keep the things as I'd kept them before he used the room. I was on the brink of letting off a strong current of battalion commands, but thank God I kept my cool. I wanted to thank my son, but my exasperation got the better of me. I simply told him that I need to nap. When I woke up for the next half of the working day, I felt better and went back to the NHA and truthfully pointed out his small victory in arranging the things and expressed my now-real gratitude. There went my reset which needed the assistance of a nap. :) Good job, me, job well done! God bless my NHA! <3
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