What does it take to Thrive?

This August, I'm participating in a monthly blog challenge called Blaugust. To see the list of participating blogs, click on the logo below. Please cheer on our participants with either a tweet or a comment on their blog. It can be hard to blog on a daily (or even regular) schedule! :)

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What does it take to Thrive?

I have been blessed to teach at an amazing school for the past 16 years.  Yesterday, as I started another year at this school, we were introduced to our theme for the year.  Starting back in the early 2000s, our administrative team would come up with a school wide theme.  For example, one year the theme was Mission:Possible and during our back to school assembly, the principals all rappelled down from the PAC ceiling while the Mission Impossible theme song played.  Often our theme played off of a current movie or some other pop culture idea, such as the Incredibles or the Olympics.  During the Olympics year, the theme was "Go for the Gold" and we all were given gold medals as we came in for our all-staff meeting. :)

This year, the theme is Thrive.

Today, we met with our evaluating principal and to start off our meeting, he asked us what it takes for us to Thrive personally, professionally, and for others in our lives.

Oh man... that's a tough question!

Personally
For me to thrive as a person, I need to do the following:

• Find balance between work and home.  This is hard.
• Take care of me.  This is hard too.  I need to set aside quiet devotional time, time with family and friends, time to laugh and be joyful, time to relax.  I need to take the time to exercise and eat right.  

Professionally

For me to thrive as a professional, I need to do the following:

• Commit to being involved in the #MTBoS.  This involves blogging on a regular basis, spending time on twitter, and participating in the #EduRead book studies.  I grow professionally because of the amazing people of the #MTBoS and I need that in my life.
• Learn to say "no".  I'm getting better than I've been in the past, but I need to say "no" and focus on the #BigRocks.

Students/Colleagues/Family

For me to help those around me thrive, I need to do the following:

• Be Joyful Always.  It's hard to always have a positive attitude, especially when you aren't feeling very positive.  But, I know that attitudes are contagious, so I need to work on having an attitude worth catching!  I need to look for the bright side and find ways to build up the people around me.
• Be present.  In a world of technology, it is easy for the screens to take away from our in-person time.  When I'm with others, I need to put away the screen and focus on being present in the moment.  

What does it take for you to Thrive?