I just saw a powerful and very important documentary film, Race To Nowhere. Actually it was my second time seeing it and I got even more out of it this time around. Although it’s geared for parents and educators, I feel very strongly that it’s for all to see. Yes, it speaks about the educational system with all the pressure to excel through high test scores, AP classes and as much over-scheduling as feasible; but the messages that speak to the societal values and priorities we are putting out there is all too encompassing and important for anyone to miss. The ramifications are huge and affects us all.
The bigger picture here is how we are living our lives. What makes for success? Are we just chasing our tails? Do the means justify the ends? How do we attain balance in our lives? Are we living according to our values, strengths, passions? Do we have the inner strength to swim against the tide, or are we being pulled under by the strong currents of societal pressure?
We first have to begin to know ourselves in order to find our place. How do we get to find ourselves when the outside is screaming at us through every conceivable inlet possible?
We must create those moments, those times, when we can tune inward and visit with ourselves, check in and ground ourselves. And then we can begin to hear our voices, our interests call out to us, our inner compass start to point us towards our own personal direction.
Kids don’t have these abilities yet. They’re first being developed, or are they? We as parents, teachers and as society’s adult role models need to live in ways that foster and encourage these abilities to recognize our strengths and find our interests. We all need to provide ourselves and one another with ways of coping, ways of managing our lives, ways of evaluating where we’re headed and if we’re on an authentic path that resonates with who we are and what we want.
And so I put forth 10 tips for getting on the path towards accessing our true selves:
- Daily time for breathing slowly and deeply, and for quiet time to just Be – be it meditating or simply doing nothing. We need to hear ourselves.
- Focus on making today a good day. Today is what we have now. When we string together a lot of ‘goods’, we start to feel goodness around us.
- Say positive things to ourselves, however small we may think they are. Again, positive feeds on positive and brings on more.
- Revel in our accomplishments; perhaps even more important are our efforts. For that’s what gives us the incentive to continue and try again. E for Effort, E for Excellence.
- Ask for help and support. We All need it. Nobody knows it all; nobody can manage well all the time.
- Visualize positive outcomes. It sets us in motion for those action steps.
- Small steps towards our goals. It’s much less overwhelming when we break things down into doable tasks.
- We always have choices. Even if it’s simply the choice of how to respond. That’s a biggie. (If you ever feel like there’s no choice and you’re forever stuck, seek out help.)
- Build in some down time, free time to do nothing or do something we truly enjoy. This is the time for imagination to play out. Our mind can go wherever it wants. Let it go; let it dream.
- Do something physical everyday – be it exercise or biking to the store, walking to an errand, dancing to music in your home where no one is watching. It loosens us up and gets things moving, like our mind in an upbeat way.
In our high-stressful and high-pressured times, we must find and live with Balance in our lives or we will be walking stressballs with out-of-sync lives. To me that’s one {of many} of the big messages in Race To Nowhere; for Balance is an antidote to high stress.
Here’s my acronym for BALANCE:
B Balance
A Attitude
L Laughter
A Adjustments
N Nurturing
C Compassion
E Energy
Anyone care to fill in their words for BALANCE? If anyone has seen this film, please share what message(s) spoke to you.
Thank you for stopping by and reading.
