On mobile? Don’t forget to read your location director’s letter or the other articles in this semester’s newsletter!

There is no doubt about it, we are living through some heavy times. [But you are handling it like a boss!] Who could have predicted that a pandemic would mean changing the course of our lives in mere days and that it would continue on? It is more important than ever to be kind to yourself and others.

Authors S. Renee Smith and Vivian Hart write in Self-Esteem for Dummies, “Let’s get positive, people! Saying and thinking affirmations often is one of the most valuable ways to change your self-talk. If you say uplifting things to yourself that help you reach your goals and reflect the sense of self-worth that you’re developing, you’ll head in a new and healthier direction.”

Kathy Gress, director, Columbia College-Springfield

You have the power to chose whether today will be a good day or a bad day. Yes, unexpected things arise but it is how we choose to handle them that determines our outcomes.

Every morning I ask my assistant, Alexa, to inspire me. She will then play snippets of inspirational words by a variety of people such as Martin Luther King, Mark Twain, Zig Ziglar, etc. This morning I heard words from Neil Pasricha Ted Talk, “The 3 A’s of awesome:

“And as these dark clouds were circling me, and I was finding it really, really difficult to think of anything good, I said to myself that I really needed a way to focus on the positive somehow. So I came home from work one night, and I logged onto the computer, and I started up a tiny website called 1000awesomethings.com. I was trying to remind myself of the simple, universal, little pleasures that we all love, but we just don’t talk about enough — things like waiters and waitresses who bring you free refills without asking, being the first table to get called up to the dinner buffet at a wedding, wearing warm underwear from just out of the dryer, or when cashiers open up a new check-out lane at the grocery store and you get to be first in line — even if you were last at the other line, swoop right in there. And slowly over time, I started putting myself in a better mood.”

So when you wake up each day and the thought of going to work, checking on your kids homework and sitting through a four-hour class seems overwhelming- remind yourself, “YOU ARE DOING AMAZING!” and make sure to let some else know they are amazing too.