ST RICT LY T WEENS
Counselor ’ s Corner
A new year brings thoughts of change . What can we do better ? We will be flooded with advertisements encouraging us to look at our lives in and make changes . We will be asked by celebrities to look at our bodies , figure out what is wrong and then focus on making a change to that area . This year , I challenge you to focus on acceptance rather than change .
One way to start accepting yourself is to list your strengths AND your weaknesses . Look at the list – how do your strengths help you ? How do your strengths burden you ? If you are an amazing swimmer , this strength helps you in that you get to compete in a sport that keeps you in great health ; being an amazing swimmer may burden you because you feel like you are stuck with this sport . All strengths can impact us in positive and negative ways , just as all weaknesses can be blessings and burdens . If your weakness is struggling to talk in front of a group of people – this is great because you can easily say no thank you to giving a talk in front of your 4-H club , but this can be a bummer when your mom says you don ' t have a choice but to give the talk . Either way , the strength or weakness is a part of who you are and acceptance can bring peace .
A school is a place where you may struggle to accept your strengths and weaknesses ; the expectations can be exhausting . Your friends may want you to hang out with them before school , even though your teacher is expecting you to come in and talk about that test you bombed . Your parents are expecting you to make good friend choices , get your homework done and excel at your chosen after school activity . And the pressure doesn ’ t stop once you get home either . At home , you have to reply to snap chats , post a cool Instagram picture and look up the latest YouTube video .