just a thought for you to think about today! feel free to pin away!

okay, for some housekeeping stuff:

1. i am in a blogathon and so that is why i am updating every single day. don’t normally update this much! for those who are hanging in there with me…thanks! to the newcomers…thank you! come july i won’t flood your inbox this much!

2. if you still read my blog in any way that is associated with google PLEASE go to http://www.gloriamarie.com/subscribe and update your method! on july 1st google reader will be shut down for good, and if you subscribe by email and you see that red notice at the top of your emails that list is associated with google. my dear friends, please update! thanks to those who have updated!

3. i don’t really have a 3rd thing, but what list is complete without a 3rd item? so my third item is that God loves you like crazy! wrap your head around that and go out there and be amazing!

sometimes i feel like i live a double life. i do what i do here at gloriamarie.com and with my books and then i am an educator! i try not to mix the two. i see them as two separate things, and i don’t want to bore my core audience here. but today i am going to mix it, mix it all up! and talk about my life as an educator and my new teaching book. the two worlds colliding.

earlier this month i received my 5 year service award from the school district i work for. i’ve only worked for one school district in my career, but in those 5 years i have taught 3 different grade levels! overall i’ve been blessed in my teaching career.

as an educator i have learned a lot in my 5 years of teaching and believe i have something to say on the subject of being an educator. when you have something to say what do you do? you write a book of course! well, that’s what i do anyway! :)

my new book is called keep calm and teach on: strategies, techniques, tips, and quotes for all 21st century educators

i don’t expect anyone who follows me here at gloriamarie.com to actually read it (unless you are an educator!) but i would love for you to share the book with any educators within your circle.

to make it easy to spread the word about the book i built a full fledged companion site for the book at keepcalmandteachon.com. point all your educator friends there!

THANKS!

yep, i have been a busy bee. i’ve been working on multiple books at once and they are all kind of coming out at the same time!

for those who have emailed me about how to go about writing and publishing a book i am currently thinking on how i should best approach helping you guys out. should i do another teleclass on it? should i create a pdf resource download? should i create an ebook on it? do a live workshop? a webinar? i am thinking, thinking, thinking about it! i will figure something out because i really want to be of help if you’re interested in writing and publishing a book.

this edition of monday motivation is brought to you by my dad! on saturday my dad sent me the following video clip that is actually just an audio clip. it’s a bit long, but you can play it while you are curling your hair…or ironing your shirt! :)

The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale 1950

want to view past editions of monday motivation? click here!

Colossians 3:12-14

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. – The Message

1. depend on others for your happiness

the only thing you can control is yourself. if you depend on others to bring you happiness, what if they decide to focus their attention elsewhere? what if they decide they no longer want to be your best fiend, your husband/wife, your source of happiness? people will disappoint you all the time. happiness comes from within.

2. not live in the moment

i am very future oriented, and it is something that is good but at times it also impedes on my joy. if i am always thinking about the future (something i don’t have possession of!), then what about the now? is this moment that God has blessed me with not good enough? if you don’t live in the moment you’ll miss all the happy moments. you’ll miss your life. and this will make you oh so sad.

3. compare yourself with others

one time i read the income statistics of people who graduated from the university of texas at austin, where i went to school, and it made me very VERY sad. as a teacher i am not earning near what other people who went to ut and graduated around my same time with similar degrees are earning. yep, just thinking about it now is making me sad! lol. comparing yourself with others is the perfect way to become sad. if you want to test it out get on facebook right now and start comparing yourself with all your friends.

so there you have it! 3 sure ways to be sad.

1. my mom’s recovery progress

i had mentioned before how my mom had broke her arm/wrist and how my mom is a serious crafter, and so the broke extremity has been a major setback. she is still in physical therapy and have a lot of recovery left, but this past week she posted a craft she created in her blog so that’s major progress.

2. summer break

it’s challenging to put in the required time and effort into your dreams when you have a full-time job, but i teach so i have my summers FREE. i am going to take advantage of it and write and publish like 15 books this summer! ha! ;)

3. friend’s who cook mexican food and is okay with me inviting myself over

yep, last night i invited myself over a friend’s house when she told me she was cooking mexican food. thanks marcia!

4. president dwight d. eisenhower

i am thankful for his vision of building the interstate highways. last weekend i traveled over 20 hours on the system. the gypsy in me gives thanks!

5. my dear readers

i was talking to a friend and he told me he was having a hard time keeping up with me during the blogathon. it’s perfectly fine if you find yourself not being able to read it all. you guys are still awesome!

THANKS!!!!!! God has smiled on me.

isaac pitre

1. people are dying with their wings in them

basically he made the point that some people are never maturing into butterflies, they are staying as caterpillars. we were born to fly, we were born to go beyond the crawl. and once you realize your potential and who you are in Christ your wings will pop out.

2. elevate yourself to God

a lot of times we bring God down to our natural world and our natural way of thinking, but what God wants us to do is to elevate ourselves to the place where he dwells. he dwells in the supernatural.

tracey mitchell

1. people are sent into your life to advance you or to delay you…no other purpose

not everyone is meant to be part of your journey. some people are on board and some people are just creating chaos and distractions, drilling holes in your boat.

2. what you expect you will attract

you must live a life of great expectancy. don’t go around expecting bad things to happen in your life. expect healing, expect joy, expect God to do great and mighty things!

Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. – Hebrews 12:28

recently while on pinterest i came across a pin with this description:

How to go from no exercising to being a runner. I should really sacrifice some craft time for this…

as a crafter this description made me laugh, but i started to think more about it…what am i willing to sacrifice to get from a place of nothing to a place of something? from point A to point B?

ask yourself: what is eating up my time that i can’t focus and dedicate time to my dreams and purpose in life?

fill in the blank: i should really sacrifice _____________ for ____________.

sacrifice is a hard task, but the concept is biblical! out of sacrifice comes abundance!

start sacrificing things and watch your life grow!

in other news: day 12 of the blogathon! tired of me yet? :) today’s theme was guest blogging, but i hadn’t been active in the community to find a blogger to exchange with. however, just fyi…if you are participating in the blogathon and wish to exchange posts at anytime during the remainder of the blogathon let me know! if you are not in the blogathon and wish to guest blog after june my blog is open to you.

since my current mission right now is to inspire people to dream i really enjoyed seeing “i have a dream” everywhere. this is me in the gift shop!

while at the center i thought about exactly why is dr. king a hero of mines, and what i admire most about him was his willingness to give up everything for what he believed in. people tried to kill him many times, but yet he continued on with his dream. he knew it could cost him everything! unfortunately, he was assassinated but since he gave everything while he was alive his dream and legacy lives on. and what an incredible dream and legacy!

the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
martin luther king, jr.

here are a couple random pictures from the trip, the app won’t allow me to scroll though my camera roll and add pictures without crashing so this is what i have to share.

pic 1: trees at the panola state park in georgia
pic 2: morning fog in alabama

when i get home i will attempt to share more! have a blessed monday!