The little engine that could August 1, 2009

 

The Mount Washington Cog Railway

 

“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”…

 
As the little engine trudged up the rugged mountain, he was afraid and doubted himself, but instead of focusing on his fear he challenged himself to believe that he could climb up that mountain side. Chanting to himself, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”  each time he was afraid, he was slowly-but surely reaching his destination.

 

3 Step Process for Changing a Limiting Belief

IDENTIFY-CHANGE-ACTION

1. Identify the belief. (ex. I am too small to climb that mountain.  I am too old to go back to school.  I don’t have time to memorize Quran.)
2. Change what you say to your self about the belief. (ex I think I can climb that mountain.  I think I could return to school at my age others have done it.  Maybe I can memorize a little Quran in the mornings after fajr.)
3. Put your new belief in action. (ex Today I started climbing the mountain.  I registered for a class at the local community college.  While the kids were asleep today I memorized a short surah.)

National Blog Posting Month’s theme for August is “Tomorrow”.  By tomorrow I challenge every reader no matter where they are to identify and post 1 limiting belief they have.  Be brave! or post anonymously Come on little engines! I know you can do it!!  What mountains are you facing today?

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.

 

Summer Memories July 28, 2009

Not sure if everyone can identify with these or not as some things are simply are culturally or hemispherically dependent /translation: it depends where you from and where your people from But I’d like to share a list of some of my summer memories.

1. icees- $0.25, $0.15, $0.10 made by the lady in the neighborhood who ran a little store out of the house (she happened to be my mom so I was the icee maker as well as the cashier)
2. The Puerto-Rican Festival (now politically correctly known as Latin American Pride? ) a mainstay in mostly northeastern states but Jersey and New York  do it big!  Our was a week long festival that was on my birthday week, began with a little miss puerto rico pageant and parade and ended in racial motivated fights on the last day- such a waste but :( unfortunate  and true. 
3. Going to the Jersey shore. Wildwood NOT Atlantic City. Only people who didn’t live in Jersey go to AC true Jerseans went to Wildwood
4. Blueberries! Hammonton, NJ is the WORLD’s largest supplier of antioxidant rich blueberries! Little known fact about the garden state!
5. COWTOWN- can’t describe you must google it for yourselves
6. Philly on the weekend
7. Floor fans in the window (before everyone got those little window sized fans ) y’all know what I’m talkin about here, don’t act too cute it’s summer time
8. Eating watermelon on the front porch with newspaper underneath you
9. Eating crabs on the front porch with newpaper underneath you
10. Not being able to eat watermelon or crabs in the house because they were too messy
11. Flies chasing you while you are eating watermelon and crabs on the front porch
12. Citronella candles that DO NOT work!
13. Sweating and attracting more mosquitoes while sitting too close to citronella candles that DO NOT work! 
14. Avon monopolizing and jacking the price of skin-so-soft products up once they realized everyone was using it instead of OFF!
15. Radios in the window
16. Loud music from the cars that ride by (with the booming system) sorry couldn’t resist that one.
17. Last day of school
18. Back to school outfit 
19. New book bags
20. Getting the bus/school assignment in the mail addressed: “To the parents of”
21. Seeing teachers in the mall/grocery store/movie theater/library and being shocked that they have on casual clothes (now I am the teacher kids get excited to see outside …I now understand that distant look in the teacher’s eyes
22. Staying up to watch the dawn of a new day all summer long.

The Garden State

Comment, Share, Enjoy!     Gotta go so I can catch the sun.

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.

 I LOVE JERSEY!!!  Anybody guess what state T~T’s  from?

 

Routine things July 25, 2009

 

Ok I’m on this new thing this week of doing lists. National Blog Posting Month’s theme for July is Routines.
So I will attempt to continue my blogging the rest of this month using the list format as a routine. Simple enough. InshaAllah!

Ok today the theme will be Gratitude! 

First let’s start with the meaning of gratitude. Gratitude= a  grateful attitude!

Today I am grateful that:

1. My son’s toe was only slightly cracked not broken!
2. My family seems to be getting over the bout of summer colds
3. There was a cool breeze blowing tonight, no fan necessary
4. We had sufficient food and drink
5. My son is able to reflect on lessons learned
6. The company of good friends near and far
7. Good fathers and the memories they create
8. Burnt cookies that still are edible
9. Good neighbors that will let you borrow a needle and thread or a spot on their floor to crash
10. An unstuffed nose ( even if it’s only one side) appreciate what you have!

ok that’s my top ten today.

Enjoy people and have a great day or night wherever you  are!

OOH Click on my new subscribe link! The first heading on the right at the top of the page ———-> to subscribe to Teacher Tamara’s posts via any reader or email! 

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.

35 things to do! July 22, 2009

I had a birthday this week and I usually think of things that I can do to improve myself for the next year.  It’s kinda like a mid year evaluation for the New Year’s resolutions.  This year I am going to go from the top of my heart and just share with you my top 35 list of things to do:

1. Trust others more
2. Be less opinionated
3. Focus Forward
4. Keep promises to my children
5. Dance with my children
6. Sing with my children more
7. Eat out less
8. Seek solitude
9. Enjoy the moment
10. Worry less about the opinion of others
11. Pray more
12. Pray for my friends more often
13. Ask Allah for what I NEED not just what I want
14. Be content
15. Accept criticism openly
16. Seek growth work
17. Help others
18. Do unto others…
19. Support my dh
20. Be more active
21. Fast frequently
22. Read the Quran Daily
23. Memorize more Quran
24. Go to bed earlier
25. Exercise early in the morning
26. Give away some clothes
27. Buy from my grocery list
28. Seek first to understand
29. Live for now
30. Prepare for Tomorrow
31. Ask for forgiveness
32. Take care of unfinished business
33. Get closer to Allah
34. Love unconditionally
35. Forgive

A little harder than I thought but Alhumdulillah it’s written.  Anyone share any of my goals for next year or like to comment please feel free. I am open

Take care and have a lovely evening, day, morning! God Bless you.

T~T

oh one more 

36.  Accept others where they are.

Commit to a lifetime of learning!
Teacher~Tamara
© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™. All rights reserved.

(Back on track) The A train pt 2 July 18, 2009

In part 1 of “The A train” we read about our sisters Sana and Muslimah who were meeting each other at the train station. Sana was arriving on the A train and Sana knows this but decides to wait for Muslimah at the B train. This type of habitually inconsiderate behavior is typical for Sana and in her mind she thinks that her way is the right way and can’t understand why others don’t feel the same.

The point that I wanted to make was very simple. Sana no matter how hard she tries has difficulty meeting people where they are (literally and figuratively). Unfortunately for Sana and especially Muslimah, Sana seems to be suffering from some sort of psychological block. It may be as severe as narcissism (which requires a professional diagnosis) or a character flaw that makes Sana believe she is really helping her friends with her behavior.

I would like to know: How do you handle the Sana’s in your life? If you were Muslimah what would the rest of the conversation be like? Would you sweep it under the rug or confront her head on?

Commit to a lifetime of learning!
Teacher~Tamara
© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™. All rights reserved.

Olive branches July 14, 2009

In ancient times olive branches were used to show that one of  two warring armies were willing to surrender and settle peacefully.  From this practice we have derived the saying  ”to extend an olive branch” to settle disagreements and fights. It takes a lot of courage to be the one who steps forward and chooses peace and it’s not a sign of weakness but of a strong and commendable character trait. 

Today choose to take a step toward conflict resolution in your life. Call up that friend or family member and humbly extend the olive branch. Apologize for your part in the disagreement and even take more than your share of the blame.  One simple action may repair a decade old rift. 

With the best of intentions your courageous and unselfish action may reap innumerable benefits for future generations.   And Allah is the best witness to what we do for His sake.

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.

The A train July 13, 2009

…the ticket read  Sat. June 13, 2009   -9:00 am  -train A   -gate 23.

Sana had the itinerary and scheduled time that Muslimah would be arriving.  It had been so long since they had seen each other, at least 5 years. But now they two former roommates were getting together for a sisters only weekend getaway!

It’s 9:05 Saturday morning and Muslimah is waiting at gate 23. She waits… 15 mins passes… a 1/2 hour… 30 mins finally an hour passes. After waiting an hour Muslimah calls Sana “I’m at the train station waiting for you is everything ok?”  Sana replies ”I’m at the train station too waiting for you now! Where are you? I thought your train was coming at 9?”    Muslimah says “I’m at gate 23″  to which Sana replies “Gate 23! What are you doing there? That’s where the A train deboards you should have been on the B train!”   ”Sana did you get my e-mail with the itinerary? It said A-train gate 23.”  “Yes I know”, Sana replied “but I thought you would be on the B train, that’s the train I would have taken.”

Muslimah was trying not to be infuriated with Sana. This was a typical example of their drama during college. She loved her friend dearly but there was always some major communication difficulties between the two. 

Sana thought that her way was the best way and couldn’t figure out why everyone else had such hard time seeing that!

What is the overall issue that we see here?   Leave your answers and then on Thursday, July 16th  I’ll post my thoughts.

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.

 

Answers: What kind of _______are you? July 12, 2009

Yesterday’s post asked the question:

If you were a tree what kind of tree do you think you would be? Why does this tree describe you best?

Here is my answer:

If I were a tree I would be a fruit bearing tree and the tree that comes to mind first for me is  a date-palm tree. In Arabic the word date is tamar.  Tamara is the name I received at birth and after I converted to Islam I found out that the name also had an Arabic root so I didn’t feel compelled to change my birth name.

I feel a sort of admiration towards the date-palm tree because of its ability to withstand the extremes of a desert climate and still be able to yield fruit.  Its an inspiration to watch it stand tall with its branches full of dates. I also like that there are palm trees all over the world and although some produce fruit and others don’t they still  have similar characteristics. It’s like they are family members.  Plus when they are netted to collect the rippened dates they look like sisters on a serious shopping mission!  Who doesn’t love a shopping spree?

So my tree would definitely be a date-palm. What’s yours?

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.

 

What kind of _______ are you? July 11, 2009

Here’s a quickie! It’s a writing prompt that can help students and writers get their creative juices flowing. It can be left open or you give it a theme. For example:

If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be and why? If you were a fruit what kind of fruit would you be? etc. Simple right? Great. All of you writers and students of life you ready? Get set and go!

#1. If you were a tree what kind of tree do you think you would be? Why does this tree describe you best?

I will post my answer tomorrow. Let’s see if you can guess it. (Look around my blog and you might get a hint).

Looking for some really creative answers here!

Commit to a lifetime of learning!
Teacher~Tamara
© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™. All rights reserved.

Got a Growth-Project? July 9, 2009

got growth?

 My latest new word is “growth-project”.  Simply put a growth-project is anything that is contemplated, devised or planned that stimulates or motivates one to develop from one stage to the next.  The words challenge and opportunity are synonyms for a growth-project. 

My latest growth project is daily blogging with NaBloPoMo group. I am using this as in exercise to develop my creativity and discipline in writing.  I wish to push my writing to the next level.

3 questions:

1. What’s your latest growth project?

2. What will it help you to develop?

3. In what ways do you hope to grow from this?

Post and let’s discuss ways to keep on going and growing!

Commit to a lifetime of learning!

Teacher~Tamara

© 2009 Teacher~Tamara ™.  All rights reserved.