Winning Words 11/30/09
“Never think that you’re not good enough. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning.” (Anthony Trollope) An elementary school in our community is working to build self-esteem among the students by having each teacher write a positive statement about each student. The students then take the statements home to show their parents. It seems like a good idea for everyone! ;-) Jack

MORE FROM JACK: 20 to 25 students each week are involved in this program, until all those in the school have an opportunity to be a "Star Student." Each day a few children read one of the positive statements on the in house TV program. During the year each student goes to see the principal who reads their teachers' comments and congratulates them. He then gives them a "good" paperback book to take home and read as a gift for being a fine student in the school.

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: I am a very positive person. Had to be. Yet, I have often found that positive thinking is "positive lying." We need to let our positivism be honest or ultimately we will have no need of a Savior. FROM JACK: We lie to ourselves in many ways. The thought in today's quote is an example of this. Most of us are better than we think we are.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: What a neat idea, especially the part where the principal is also brought in to know and congratulate them and give the student a book as a gift. Nice to hear the whole community is involved in giving kids positive feedback in such a caring way. FROM JACK: For many of these children, this is the first positive reinforcement that they've ever been able to bring home and show their parents. Reports cards don't always tell the whole story.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: I've heard it said, we are our toughest critics. Thinking we aren't good enough is easy but acting like we are is. And there's one of those words again...."reckoning". How often is that word used today? Not much I reckon! FROM JACK: During the days when I was learning to be a pastor, I followed a chaplain around in Chicago's Cook County Hospital, as he visited the sick, many from "skid row." One of the Bible verses I remember hearing him whisper in the ear of a patient was Romans 8:18, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the Glory of God." MORE FROM OJ: Very very good! Romans is one of my favorites....and this was worth reading again.

FROM HAWKEYE GS: My favorite teachers were ones who made positive statements to/about me. The same goes for relatives.

FROM MOLINER CF: A pat on the head works better than a kick in the rump. FROM JACK: And sometimes a pat on the rump works better than a kick in the head.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: Do you think that there are a lot of people-adults and children-who have a low opinion of themselves? FROM JACK: The egotists seem to be in the minority...and even the egotists have an inner self-doubt that most of us don't see. In my "humble" opinion.

FROM AN IN MICHIGAN: "You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and don't mess with Mr. in between." FROM JACK: You gotta keep accentuating!