"what's a motto?"

Remember that line from the Lion King? Well, I was just thinking today about how sometimes inmylife it seems like I am running a loser's race or fighting a losing battle and I remembered the words of the Special Olympics motto.
I used to have a tee shirt when I was in 4th or 5th grade that had these words printed on it that my grandma had bought for me at one of my brother's Special Olympic competitions. I have a poster in my classroom from 2 years ago when we learned about the Olympics when they were in Greece. It has this motto and an olive wreath hanging next to it. Sometimes we just have to recognize that some battles we will lose but that doesn't mean we have to give up our courage or our ability to enjoy the experience. We might (no, we WILL) lose a few, or find ourselves down or behind, maybe so far that we can't even see the person ahead of us, but we never have to allow defeat. There is victory in merely finishing, even if we finish dead last!

Karate Creeds

A few days ago, I found myself struggling to remember the words to the student creeds and that really ticked me off. For two and a half years, I recited them almost daily, and now I can't remember them hardly at all. :( I think I am getting early onset Alzheimer's or something. I got my black belt in April and then some things inmylife really started to go downhill and I think part of that was that the Lord was trying to tell me that I needed to reevaluate my priorities, of which karate was taking up a huge part of my life, and although I was learning important things, I needed to start to learn some other lessons, so I quit the karate in July. I hope to return to karate training someday and continue for the rest of my life, but right now there are other personal and spiritual things I need to do.
Anyways, as I started to realize that I was forgetting these creeds (after only 2 months) I was really upset because I want to remember them to help me inmylife. Luckily, I found them on someone's blog. Yeah! I am going to make them into posters and hang them in my extra room, which I need to start to use as my workout room. I also want to put up my karate pictures and Black Belt certificate. Let's see if and when all this happens. :)

1: I will develop myself in a postive manner and avoid anything that will reduce my mental growth or my physical health.

2: I will develop self discipline in order to bring out the best in myself and others.

3: I will use what I learn in class constructively and defensively to help myself and my fellow man and never to be abusive or offensive.

And (this is not really a creed, but a good quote)

"I come to you with only karate-empty hands, I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor- should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons, karate- my empty hands." Ed Parker (kara-te translated means "empty hands")

thanks grandma

One more thing grandma taught me...without speaking. Grandma had a quote on her fridge for the longest time. ( I wonder if its still there...I guess I will check next time I go over). But it always stuck with me and I share it with my students EVERY year because I think it is one of life's most important lessons.
"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." Let's always remember that we are all children of God and treat each other as such.

The Great Kapok Tree's Bit of Wisdom

Last Friday, at school we read a story called, "The Great Kapok Tree" from the basal. This is a really neat story about a tree in the Amazon Rainforest and the animals telling a man why he should not cut it down. Anyways, there was a line in it, that never really hit me until this time and we had to stop and have a discussion about it and then write it on the board as a classroom motto for a while.
"What happens tomorrow depends on what you do today."
This can be considered on several different levels, of course. Our discussion of the story had to do with the fact that if we destroy nature today then our children won't be able to enjoy it in the future. But then, it led to a discussion about things like studying for the test if you want to get an A, or practicing for the game if you want to do your best.
But now, I am thinking about it on a spiritual level. We are children of our Heavenly Father and He loves us very much. He wants us to be our best in this life and to return to Him in the next. We can't just go through this life like a kite carried by the wind. We need to direct ourselves so that what happens tomorrow is not a surprise to us. For example, the prophets have foretold of disasters that are to come in the last days and have counseled us to be prepared by collecting food storage and getting rid of debt. If we do these things today then we can make it through the disasters on our own rather than having to rely on the help of others.
We have been promised great blessings if we follow the commandments and do the things that the prophets counsel. We have been told that God has a mansion prepared for us and that we are His divine children with a divine inheritance. What we receive tomorrow depends on what we do today.