Dwell Brush: Moving Forward with Positive Growth

The Story

I dwelled today.  To make matters worse, I dwelled on the fact that I had dwelled, which is a terribly silly, and an arguably fruitless undertaking.  I dwelled in the first place because I was disappointed in myself for missing the mark on a goal that I set, and had been working to achieve.  You might be able to guess why I dwelled on the dwelling that I was already doing.  That’s right, I exacerbated my initial dwell because I became disappointed in the fact that I was doing it in the first place (the dwelling).  In fact, the disappointment I felt over that dwelling almost eclipsed the disappointment I felt over the stumble that perpetuated it.  Ironically, it did so to the point that I nearly forgot which disappointment I was dwelling on…the stumble or the dwelling itself.  Oh dwell.

I feel obligated to report that dwelling over dwelling is doubly unproductive, in large part because it can be very distracting.  As an educator, and an educational leader, there’s plenty that needs to be tended to during the course of any given day.  The last thing I need is to be distracted…and I know this!  Still, I continued to dwell.  That is, until something spectacular happened.  I addressed the disappointment, my frustration over it, and decided to move forward in a positive direction.  I remembered my humanity and my fallibility.  I conceded that this would not be the last stumble I take.  I recalled that there is precious growth involved in regrouping from a stumble.  Low and behold, I brushed off the dwell!

Advice to Myself & Any Other Takers:

Brush off the dwell.  It’s natural to make mistakes, and even to be hard on ourselves when we make them.  Take a reasonable amount of time to process, and then brush off the disappointment in favor of growth and development.  When you feel yourself beginning to dwell, imagine a dwell brush.  If all of the dwell doesn’t brush off immediately, just keep the imaginary brush in your back pocket.  Try again 10-15 in minutes; process disappointment in ways that perpetuate forward progress.  Don’t let dwelling on the negative prevent you from meeting and exceeding your potential.

Photo on 2012-02-23 at 15.05

Dream Big. Work Hard. Be Well.

5 comments

    • bergseye

      Thank you Jen…I’m so thrilled that you read this! I’ve been wondering how things are going in your new post. I’m sure you’re rocking it! Let’s touch base soon!

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