Logically Emotional

Why do we have to be ruled by our emotions?

Why are emotions so fickle?

Maybe vulcans have it right.

My emotions by affecting me – affects others.

I realize this logically, but ironically, it is those very emotions that keep me from acting on such logic.

Emotions run deep and can cause such conflicts. They continually get us in trouble as they trample our logic and speed haphazardly ahead to our downfall.

"Wait! Stop!" screams our logic, but the emotions stumble on, tripping and falling yet moving continually forward.

How do we tame them? How do we keep them in check?

Yet, there's the rub. Keeping emotions in check equals keeping them pent up inside. Keeping them pent up inside equals stress and physical maladies.

So the more difficult question is how to let the emotions out effectively keeping them bottled up until such outlet can be gained.

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

Emotions make us human. Define us as individuals; allow us to experience some of the most jouful and intense moments of our lives.

Maybe it is vital that we experience such negative emotions in order to make the positive ones much more powerful.

But the eternal question will always remain how to balance emotional reactions with logical thought. To force ourselves to stop in a heated moment and again only when logic has had a chance to speak as well.

Such coupling will forever remain a task, easier for some, but a task all the same. But in order to experience the beautiful, life-changing, exciting moments, it is a task that is well worth the struggle.

When emotions trample my logic and stifle my productivity, logic must be allowed to stand up, wipe itself off, and take a breath.

It is a balancing act in need of a practiced acrobat.

Let's see the ten things I like about summer:

1. Getting to see my daughter!
2. Spending time with friends.
3. Sitting on the back porch and reading.
4. The break from grading.
5. Getting to see my brother and his family.
6. Napping, napping, napping.
7. Sunshine and cool breezes.
8. No real schedule (at least starting Saturday).
9. Waching movies.
10. Getting to see my daughter.

Choking on Silence

Chocking on Silence

The silence was deafening.

The empty desk, the shocked classmates.

He's dead.

The news conveyed through an email.

What? Not possible!

He was in class just yesterday,

Healthy, happy, joking around.

His brother found him.

His brother will never be the same.

Rumors abound,

Students whisper,

Parents speak out.

A once lively young man, deceased.

And anger mixes in among the sadness.

Why?

Because of the deadly "game" the student "played,"

A young life is literally choked out.

Space Monkey, the Choking Game, Blackout….

This so-called game answers to many names –

Names both educators and parents should learn to recognize.

Keeping it a secret won't keep the kids from trying it.

They already know the details.

It's the educators and parents who need educating.

Ask the students – they'll tell you exactly what this game entails.

Why play?

The euphoric feeling experienced without drugs or alcohol.

Well-adjusted students find this a "legal" way to get high.

Kids egg others on – "It's no big deal, feels great, can't get hurt."

Wrong! NO safe way to "play".

Why dangerous?

Choking, cutting off the airway –

A necessity to achieve results.

And even if luck should have it, and death is deferred,

Brain cells die, brain damage occurs.

Yet the biggest danger may be the lack of adult knowledge

About a "game" that will only continue to morph

Into something

More addictive and secretive.

What can we do?

As educators and parents –

Arm ourselves with information

That we are not afraid or embarrassed to pass on.

Become familiar with the many different names:

Space Monkey, Fainting, Pass Out Game, Rising Sun,

Cloud Nine, Ghost, Purple Dragon….

Become familiar with the signs:

After being alone – disorientation,

Around the neck – red ligature marks,

Around the eyes – pinpoint bruising,

An unusual need for privacy,

Items – belts, t-shirts, bed sheets – tied in odd places….

Listen, listen, listen:

Pay attention, take a step.

We may be the last chance

Between that child and a noose –

Between a life saved and a life lost!

Knowledge is power –

Let's arm our children, not bury them.

Melissa Wilson

Dumas High School

For more information:

The DB Foundation: Dangerous Adolescent Behavior Education

www.thedbfoundation.com

GASP – info, along with a powerful video

www.stop-the-choking-game.com

Tweens & Teens News

http://teenandtweennews.com

Downs, Martin. "The Highest Price for Pleasure." Medicine Net

www.medicinenet.com

A Cycle of Influence

A family surrounds the hospital bed,

The raspy breath of a beloved becomes shallow and weak.
"How much longer?" her daughter questions shakily.

The silence – deafening,
Their tears – flow freely,
Their memories – rewind like an old movie,
Her death – heartbreaking,
Her influence – never forgotten.
The doctor whispers, "She's gone."

A family fills the waiting room,

The anticipated cry of a new life echoes stronger and louder.
"How much longer?" a new brother shouts excitedly.
The crying – musical,
Her smile – contagious,
Her memories – yet to be created,
Her birth – miraculous.
A grandmother's influence remains.
The doctor grins, "It's a girl."

A grandmother passes,
A grandchild is born,
Though their spirits may cross,
Their lives never touch.

They share a name,

They share a lineage,

They share another's love.
Forever separated in body,
Yet forever connected by a mother's influence.

The grandmother taught the mother,
The mother now teaches the daughter.
And the grandmother's beliefs, passed on by the daughter,
Become the bridge over the chasm of life and death.

And an influence now deceased,
Remains alive in another.

The years unfold – the child matures.
The mother passes,
A daughter remains,
A child is born.
And influence bridges the chasm between life and death,
Once again.

Melissa Wilson

A Child’s Lessons

You entered my world (was there ever life before you?), and I reveled in the knowledge that I would be able to spend the next eighteen years teaching you about the wonders of life.

Yet, as you grasped my heart – became my heart – I learned what it means to love unconditionally, and the realization settled in that I would not be the one teaching, but learning. And what a phenomenal instructor you have turned out to be.

Through your innocence, I learned about pure love;

Through your helplessness, awesome responsibility;

Through your eyes, true beauty;

Through your mistakes, much patience;

Through your questioning, genuine thought.

Through your frustrations, I learned I can't fix everything

And the pain the comes in allowing you to falter in order for you to stand.

Through your kindness, I learned about true caring;

Through your love, about myself;

Through your sadness, empathy-

I shared our pain, would have taken it from you, but then you wouldn't be you.

Through your happiness, I experienced pure joy;

Your laughter is one of the most beautiful songs I will ever hear.

Through your coming, I learned about life,

And through your going, I learn to do the impossible – letting go while holding on!

I know that you will continue to teach me as you continue to mature into the beautiful young woman you are becoming. Know that your dad and I are so very proud of you – not for all of the awards and accomplishments – but for the caring, Christian heart you engender daily and the difference you have made and will continue to make in our lives and the lies of others.

My prayer for you is that you will move forward with the grace and confidence you have embodied in the past and that the l Lord will keep you close as you embark on the net leg o life's journey.

Unlocking Doors

Creating a Skeleton Key: Unlocking the Doors for All Readers

 

"Aw, Miss, do we have to read ANOTHER book?" As several students continue yet another chorus of the "same old song", my mind wanders back to a cold winter's night, several months ago. The wind outside my window howled with the frigid night air, but under my warm downy comforter and snuggled in my cozy over-stuffed chair, I basked in the sun on the island of Oahu with my favorite detective, solving yet another mind- boggling mystery. Recalling the warmth of the hot chocolate's steam tickling my nose and the richness of its flavor teasing my taste buds as the story unfolded, I couldn't imagine life without reading another book.

So other than the obvious fact that as individuals our interests differ, why do some students seem to truly dread, and often ignore, reading? Could it be that as individuals our learning styles also differ? And could it be that when forced to learn like "everyone else" because "this is the proven" (the newest?) method of teaching
everyone to read, many do not learn. And if some don't learn (while others do), these students often begin to feel incapable of learning or determine that it is just too much effort, just too hard. If this is the case, reading becomes a struggle, an opportunity to fail (yet again), and definitely not a means to further learning or pleasurable entertainment.

Instead of perpetuating the problem, my desire is to become part of the solution as a teacher who not only appreciates the learning differences of my students but personifies the idea of life-long learning by continuing my education in a manner that will enhance theirs. I would like to become, in essence, a skeleton key – one that would open the varied learning style doors. If I can grasp and communicate those methods available to assist all students with reading, maybe I can help others discover the unbelievable beauty in reading and understanding the ideas, stories, and instructions of others, ultimately, perhaps, even guiding each individual to the wonders of scripting their own ideas or beliefs for posterity.

Whether fiction or nonfiction, instructional or entertainment, attitude changing or thought enhancing, reading – the ability to truly comprehend and experience the written word – changes lives, strokes imagination, stimulates potential to change the world, individually, providing for each student more richness and flavor than the steaming cup of cocoa often accompanying my newest adventure into the excitement of the imagination or the mysteries of our real and ever-changing world. Reading unlocks doors to new worlds; my hope is to help create the appropriate key meant for each individual. And hopefully hear, "Hey Miss, when do we get to read another book?"

 

An Understanding Heart

A'\

 

An Understanding Heart

I once heard tell that to have a child is to decide forever to have Your heart walking1 around outside vour bodv.

 

Her baby sleeps.

She watches with amazement.

The calm, quiet, consistent breathing

Her heart lies there.

 

And her baby grows.

She watches with excitement.

The first wobbly steps towards walking

Her heart toddles off.

 

And her toddler grows.

She watches with anxiousness.

The very first day of schooling

Her heart enters nervously.

 

And her child grows.

She listens with frustration.

Many days of arguments

The first accusations: "But you just don't understand."

She thinks, "But one day you will."

Her heart moves away angrily.

 

And her daughter marries.

She watches with nostalgia

The first moments of a new journeying

Her heart separates uncertainly.

 

And the wife grows.

She assists with happiness

Her first days of grandmothering

Her heart doubles magically.

 

My baby sleeps.

I watch with awe.

My first steps of understanding

My heart lies there.

 

Wilson © 2004