As I shared, my “theme” this year seems to have defined itself: Perspective. I continue to prayerfully consider my perspective on both every day life occurrences as well as the more complex things in life. One that was constantly nagging me were personality traits – particularly those of our kids. Having special needs kids sometimes I am the one that is guilty of labeling a personality trait negatively and sometimes it others who don’t know or understand our kids that use a negative connotation with their personality traits. So I want to walk through how I have changed perspective in regards to their personality traits.
B: Bossy = Confident. He knows exactly how he likes things to be.
Hyper = Exuberant, full of life!
Too Literal = He knows facts and understands truth.
Outspoken = He loves to socialize and is imaginative!
A: Bossy = Organized. She’s a planner and knows how to get things done.
Sensitive = Empathetic. She really feels emotions deeply – including those of others.
Refuses to be Wrong (Perfectionist – can be looked at in a negative tone) = Always wants to get things right. Pays close attention to detail. Perfectionist – in the good sense of the term!
C: Bossy = Strong-willed. This is a boy with determination!
Rough = Strong. He is physically strong. Due to being a sensory seeker he often pushes the limits, but he has such a kind heart that I know he doesn’t have mean intentions.
Anti-social = Selective. He chooses social connections carefully.
One thing you may notice is that one negative trait branched out into a totally different positive trait for each of our kids. I think it’s easy to group personality traits into negative traits, but a little harder to see them for the positive uniqueness that they really offer. Maybe you see negative traits in others or even yourself. I want to challenge you to look at them from a different perspective. Consider God’s perspective. How does He see others? How does He see you? Our kids are all very unique, and they are a huge blessing in our lives. Some days can, indeed, be frustrating, but I have to remember how unique each of them are and how special they are. It can really help to make it through a hard day when I look at it through a positive perspective!
My "Theme"
No, I’m not actually talking about my blog theme, which is still in the works by the way. I’m not sure I’m “feeling” the current one. Anyway, what I mean by theme is my personal theme. I know many people start the year with their “theme,” and I’ve never done this, but a quarter into this year I realized I do have a theme, and I’m now setting a goal to share a little something about my theme each week (or even more often)! So what is this theme? Perspective. I’ve realized that a lot of hard situations, bad days or even small moments, or even not so bad days or moments are greatly impacted by perspective. I’ve not only come to realize this, but my theme for the rest of this year is to acknowledge my perspective and change it when necessary. As I mentioned, I want to share these moments with you!
I’m sure many of us, especially parents, realize the impact of perspective – our perspectives as well as the perspectives of those around us! We can all impact each other for the better or for the worse. This is why I’m focusing on changing my perspective for the better, and I pray it makes an impact on those around me – starting with my family! Parenting special needs children can be tough. Having a spouse with medical issues can be tough. Having your own medical issues can be tough. But there are many blessings as well that can’t be ignored. Although I’ve always been able to “find the silver lining,” I do think my perspective has often been for the worse, and I’ve been working on that lately! My personal posts have been scarce lately, I know. We’re battling a cold right now (all but our oldest who has an immune system of steel), and I fell behind on other commitments for my blog. I started to feel really stressed out. Instead, though, I chose to accept it for what it is – extra cuddle time with the kids and naps for me! I’m also coming off a medication right now that can have major side effects, so I needed to slow down a little bit! Sure, I don’t want to get backed up on commitments, but I don’t want it to cause me that much stress either! Colds are a part of life – particularly when you have the type of crazy weather like it has been here in Central Texas. It feels like summer one day and not quite even like Spring the next! Everybody around here is feeling the effects of this weather!
So, for the rest of the year I’m going to share a variety of topics and about different perspectives. I do hope to share even more personal posts regularly, but the fact that I haven’t been actually means I’ve been getting some sleep at night! I often blog when I can’t sleep! So hopefully getting off this medication will leave a positive impact on the energy drain I feel during the day and get me back to a normal wake and sleep pattern!