“This is hard, to cut out a dinosaur, but I can do it!”  He furrowed his brow and carefully moved the red scissors up and down cutting along the thick black outline of a smiling dinosaur. From the very beginning, we are wired for growth. Working with young children strengthens my belief that we humans can learn anything if we are willing to work for it. By the way, he did cut out that dinosaur and did a magnificent job!

Changing my lifestyle for the better has definitely stretched perception of the growth mindset because there are so many challenges that I have to persevere through. I do have to believe that when I put in the effort I will succeed. When I listen to other Weight Watchers members I am inspired by their successes. I have always had a strong sense of internal locus of control and this theory helps to explain why. A growth mindset reinforces the thinking that we can influence the events in our lives and their outcomes.

I paid some bills tonight, and one of them was my water bill and that got me thinking about how appreciative I am to have clean water. Long Islanders get their water from aquifers deep under the ground. All of the rain is filtered through layers of sand and rock and that is what cleans the water so it can be used again. Nature offers these elegant solutions that help to sustain life as we know it. Clean water, like so many things in life, requires a delicate balance. As I tried to learn a little more I found out that there are other toxins and pollutants that are also getting filtered into our water supply and that is alarming.   So what can I do be part of the solution instead of the problem? I can:

• Maintain my cesspool
• Properly dispose of prescription drugs
• 8 Steps to a Toxic Free Lawn (I have to convince my husband about that)
• Be Informed! 

This isn’t really where I thought my Mindfulness goal would take me but that’s ok. It just reinforces why I have to think of things that are beyond my everyday life. Being informed, engaging the world, and taking personal responsibility are also steps towards living a healthier lifestyle. Can’t be healthy without clean water – just sayin’…

I wonder what are you thinking about. Are you making decisions that will get you closer to your goals?  If you’re not, why not? Remember, you don’t have to go it alone there are so many good people out there. More tomorrow…