I choose to acknowledge and celebrate the strengths of others. Sometimes a quick text or note of support and acknowledgment can make a huge impact, and I will highlight the accomplishments of my friends and colleagues.

I choose to help empower and encourage others, and live by the belief that there is not a finite amount of happiness and success in the world, and someone else having happiness and success does not mean that there’s less available to me.

I choose to show up and demonstrate my allyship with Black Lives Matter and other marginalized segments of our community. My life has been full of privilege and it is now my privilege to support these important movements.

I choose to support those around me. I gain energy by serving those I surround myself with. That energy keeps me motivated every day.

I choose to act based on my values. I have a set of strong morales that I was taught growing up. Making choices based on those values helps me to stay mentally healthy.

My most important roles are mother and teacher. It is in these roles that I share my humanity and love for others by modeling empathy, kindness and honesty, which will make a difference in others’ lives. 

The more I learn, the more aware I am of the need to learn. My learning will positively impact those I interact with. I am the change I wish to see in the world.

I choose positivity. Life is full of challenges and changes. In fact, change is the one thing we can count on in life, so why not make the most of every situation? I choose positivity because leading a life filled with gratifying thoughts results in worthy intentions. I believe worthy intentions are the foundation to honorable actions, and actions are what we remember most about people. Maya Angelo speaks about how positivity can change peoples’ lives in one of my favorite quotes: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I choose empathy. Empathy is the second part of my credo because I believe empathetic people listen to one another, show compassion by being there for others, and connect with people that may be different than themselves. I believe empathy is the foundation to a genuine relationship, which sets the tone for the greater community. Mother Teresa speaks about how empathy affects our society: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

I choose passion. Mirroring Phil’s third credo point relating to competence, I am choosing passion because I believe that if we all live our lives doing the things we love the most, our passions will flourish because we generally love what we do. Furthermore, when we are passionate about things in our everyday lives, we become internally motivated. When we are internally motivated about something we are passionate about, there is no stopping us to do what we were made to do! Oprah Winfrey speaks about her belief in passion: “Follow your passion; it will lead to your purpose.”

 

I choose to help others. Empathy is one of my top strengths, and I will use this strength to empower others. I can use my position as a teacher to help others succeed emotionally, socially, and academically. I can also support others and help them achieve equality and safety. We all must work together and support each other for us all to succeed because, to quote one of my favorite Disney movies from middle school, “We are all in this together.”

 

I choose to take care of myself. It’s easy for me to put my needs last and focus on my students’ needs and my work first. However, I know it’s not healthy to put my nutritional or sleep needs aside. If I don’t take care of myself, I will not be able to do my job and help others. I choose to eat healthy, drink water throughout the day (this is a struggle, but I can do it), sleep when I’m tired, and spend time outside. 

I choose to do something each day for “we”. This could be for my family, my community or even on a larger scale. Volunteering my time and/or sharing my talents with others will not only allow me to grow personally but I will be helping others to grow as well.

I choose to do something each day for “he”. I will choose each day to honor God and my spiritual self. By strengthening my relationship with God I will be able to better cope with stress and be able to focus on building better ways to overcome and deal with hardships. 

By doing these things I will be able to concentrate on my values and beliefs, strengthen relationships and become better connected to my true “self”. 

I choose to be brave.  I need to believe in myself. I work hard and need to let that side of myself show both personally and professionally. I finish what I started.  This also means I need to leave my comfort zone and experience new things, people and places.

I choose to be healthy.  I want to remain active as long as I can.  I have enjoyed figure skating for most of my life and want to continue being able to learn new things and compete. I need to stay active, eat right.  That way I can also be around for many years for my family and friends.  I also want to have fun and relax with the activities I enjoy. 

I choose to be motivated.  I know how to set goals but I need to work more on getting them accomplished. They may take a long time to complete and the final product or outcome may be different then I expected. I want to work on them to see how far I can go!

I choose to be grateful. I choose to be grateful for what I have and to live in the moment. I choose to not worry about the yesterdays or tomorrows and to focus on today. Each day I plan to be mindful of what I am thankful for in the moment and will reflect on this at the end of each day.

Perseverance

I choose to be brave and believe in myself. I will learn to live without fear of making mistakes. I will accept mistakes as learning moments and will move forward. When making a mistake I will work on positive self talk which will allow me to build upon my personal confidence. 

Perspective 

I choose to look through a wider lens to see the big picture. I will listen and learn as much as I can about others in order to see all points of view in situations or events that may occur. 

Faithful

I choose to live my faith. I choose to love others just as Jesus did. I choose to practice my faith each and every day through sharing compassion with those around me. 

I create connection:  I choose to Be kind in my words, actions, and thoughts as I connect with others around me.  I believe that the positivity I send out into the world will be returned.  I give the benefit of the doubt to others in negative interactions and often find it’s possible to move toward a positive outcome.

I create competence:  I choose to Listen, watch, and learn as I increase my competence in some area of life each day.  Every day is a chance to learn something new or gain some greater understanding of the world around me.