Counselor’s Corner Issue 15

Dear Life-Changers,

I once had a boss...okay, she's currently my boss...and yours, too...who this week shared an insight that I love. It spoke to my feelings of personal inadequacy, as well as my frustrations in others' supposed incompetency. Maybe she's said it to you, too, but I feel like it's important to put her words on (virtual) paper.

She said that she views every person she encounters, herself included, as a "walking Individualized Plan." This lens considers each person's considerable deficits and develops a figurative "individualized plan" in order to help them be successful and show their full abilities. Through this perspective, she is able to extend grace that compensates for others' deficiencies.

As she shared, I immediately piped in that my IP should read the following:
"Mindy struggles with emotional regulation, suffers from anxiety, and often exhibits over-sensitivity. As a people-pleaser, she will work hard to excel, but requires much positive affirmation and may, at times, be overly-needy for reassurance."

The beauty of extending grace-filled "accommodations" to others made me wonder if we can extend grace to ourselves in the new year? Are we able to recognize our own shortcomings and allow ourselves to receive others' grace-gift offerings? Can we, in the classroom, in our relationships, in our home-life, let ourselves off the hook and be a little easier on ourselves? Maybe, just maybe, we go from being our-own-worst-critic to I'm-doing-my-best-advocate.

Thanks, Lori Aguilera, for the reminder.

Respectfully,
Mindy