A Minute Can Turn into Hours for the Child of a Work-at-Home Mom
A Minute Can Turn into Hours for the Child of a Work-at-Home Mom
In theory, working at home is an ideal situation. But in reality, it's difficult to balance the needs of your family with the needs of your clients.Phones, fax machines and e-mails have no common courtesy, nor does your client really care about your personal situation. You are simply a means to an end consisting of a telephone number, an e-mail address and a 1099 at the end of the year. For the most part, you are not afforded special considerations and must respond to their needs or your business will suffer.Long before I began my career as a writer, I was already a work-at-home mom. I provided outsourcing solution to a variety of clients, which included bookkeeping, personnel records, reports and creating employee handbooks and mission statements. Initially my clients were leery; it was a time when home businesses were just emerging. I went to great lengths to establish and maintain my associations. Part of my success was the perceived illusion was that I was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Continuously, I had to prove my home life did not interfere with their business needs or deadlines.One day, as I absentmindedly brushed my son off and repeated the phrase, "just a minute" for the fifth time, I suddenly realized why he had no concept of time. That "minute" I was speaking of was hours away, at best. The business I built so that I could be at home with him was also the business that was taking me away from him. I turned back to my computer to complete the report I was working on and my son returned to his video game in frustration. It was then I realized my solution was only a paragraph away.I was experienced in writing mission statements for my clients. These leadership tools are used in the corporate world to define goals, values and purpose. A successful business takes commitment, resources, responsibility, problem solving, honesty and hard work. Doesn't that also define raising a child? Parenting consists of all those factors and so much more.As in any business, the business of raising a child will bring accomplishments, successes and rewards, but it will also have it's share of conflicts, disappointments and setbacks. However, when it comes to the business of family the stakes are much greater than a new client, a contract, a promotion or a raise; they involve the wellbeing of your child.The emotional difficulties of childhood serve to build strength, courage and character. But to a child, these conflicts may feel catastrophic if they have no one to turn to. You can help prepare your child to cope if you take time out each day to remind him how much you love him, express your commitment to his wellbeing and provide positive affirmations that help foster confidence.Just as you keep focus on your business goals and rise to meet your company's mission statement, keep focus on your personal goals as a parent. Run your family business with the integrity and respect of a healthy, thriving corporation. Define your ideals, set plans to action, keep communications open and reward success. Encourage individuality, praise creativity and share the wealth. Be positive and proactive. The business of family is one to be celebrated and cherished. It may not be listed as a FORTURNE 500, but it is the most important business of all.A PARENT'S MISSON STATEMENTThe purpose of this Mission Statement is to express my love, support and commitment to you. As your parent, I promise to help you achieve your dreams and goals by providing you with a safe and nurturing environment. I respect your opinion and I encourage your creativity. I will be there to praise your accomplishments and comfort you in your disappointments. I promise to accept you as you are, support your decisions and honor you as a special and unique individual. You have the right to a safe and happy childhood and as your parent, I am committed to providing this to you.TIPS FOR WORKING AT HOMEThe luxuries you dreamed of as a work-at-home mom can quickly lead to burdens unless you are organized and scheduled. This schedule consists of a balance between business and family and activities should work in harmony with your child's needs, not against them.Define your work area and organize it so valuable time can be spent on the task at hand.Determine quiet times, such as early morning or after your child goes to bed. Use this period to complete tasks that need the most concentration.Set a start and finish time for your workday.Allow a full day off from work each week and stick to this schedule as much as possible.Start each morning by talking with your child about the day's events. Include your child in these plans. By informing him of your activities, he will be comforted in the knowledge that there will be time for him.Remember that you are entitled to breaks, lunch, vacation time and even sick time. You are the boss.When it comes time for your break, stop working, compliment your child for his cooperation, and spend the next block of time enjoying the moment.Record an "out to lunch" message and set your phones daily. Even if you are sitting at your desk, do not answer the phones. Your clients will become accustom to your schedule.If you need to run an errand, but are concerned about missing an important call, don't wait around stressing, forward calls to your cell phone.Consider hiring a babysitter a few hours per week to read or play with your child or do a special craft.Most of all, remember your priorities as a parent and your commitment to your personal mission statement. When your child needs to talk, be grateful he or she is turning to you. Keep the lines of communication open, there will come a time when they need you for more than a glass of milk and a snack. And when that time comes, they might not be able to wait, "just a minute".About The AuthorPatricia Gatto and John De Angelis are the authors of MILTON'S DILEMMA, the tale of a lonely boy's magical journey to friendship and self-acceptance. As advocates for literacy and children's rights, the authors speak at schools and community events to foster awareness and provide children with a safe and healthy learning environment. For more information, please visit Joyful Productions at http://www.joyfulproductions.compgatto@ptd.net
The Truth of Reactions
The Truth of Reactions
In my life, I have tried to be Good and Pure and True. In these qualities, I have failed miserably. Why is it so hard to be good? Why is it so difficult to act in harmony with our mental ideals?From the sea of Emptiness, everything arises.Many people on the spiritual path eventually come face to face with their "Dark Side" - that part of themselves that is very, un-enlightened, selfish and spoiled. Reactions are a great mirror. We shout at the driver who cut us off. We take advantage of our employees because they really need the job. We cheat on our diets, our spouses, and our promises. We want to be good. We want to live in harmony with our spiritual nature, but sometimes, sometimes when lust, fear, or power overwhelm us - a demon seems to take charge of our actions. He makes us do things we regret if others see, and "forget" if others don't.The lion kills the gazelle. The ice kills the last dinosaur. Man loves Woman. Man kills Man. Man creates monuments to the Gods.Reactions. Words are easy. It is easy to say you are good, to say you love everyone and everything, to think to yourself that you are enlightened, to imagine that you give selflessly to the unfortunate. But actions, particularly re-actions are the great indicators of our deeper nature. Your "dark" reactions - both physical and emotional - are what the spiritual seeker must boldly face if they are ever to progress past a rudimentary taste of Inner Peace.To survive, He kills. To spread his seed, He goes to war. To teach his children, he works his life away.There are a million self-help books out there. Countless psychologists and billions of people who will all tell you exactly what you need to do to make yourself "better." Let me posit that you don't need to be fixed. Let me further posit that the only thing any of us are guilty of is a little fantasizing.At his base, He is an animal. At his apex, He is a god.One of the gifts of humanity is the gift of imagination. The problem is, sometimes we don't realize that we are imagining. We believe some fantasy about who we are and all our "problems" rear up and slap us in the face when we don't live up to that fantasy. Let me say that again. Our problems arise when who we really are conflicts with who we think we are.Self preservation. Procreation. Possession. Defending the Tribe. Attacking to Survive.You are selfish. You do lust after your neighbor's wife. You really do want to be famous and rich and powerful. Your fantasy says these are all off limits to the spiritual seeker. That if you were a good man/woman/god you wouldn't have those feelings.War and Peace. Good and Evil. Love and Hate. Me and Them. One cannot exist without the Other. One cannot exist without Two.So which is more real, your fantasy persona or your true, if somewhat repressed emotions? All this might sound a little funny coming from a man who claims to see God (a female god nonetheless) in a discarded banana peel, but damn it, I know my viewpoint is an illusion. Most seekers don't realize their fantasies are really only mental images - ideals that exist only in their minds.Below it all, the Source. Below it all, Emptiness. From the sea of Emptiness. All life arises.Your "dark" reactions are simply little indicators of where your true self deviates from your imagined self. Deny your nature and live your fantasy. Embrace the Darkness, feel the burn - and you will quickly find the Light.Wayne Wirs is the photographer and author of Fading Toward Enlightenment - Life between the Ego and the Ethereal. For more information about Wayne, his writings or his photography, please visit
http://FadingTowardEnlightenment.com
White Sun – Tao of Heaven. Showers of Wisdom ( Part 2 of 3 )
White Sun - Tao of Heaven. Showers of Wisdom ( Part 2 of 3 )
People rarely live up to a hundred years of age but yet, they carry with them the worries of a thousand years. Within this chaotic and dazzling world, it is only due to ignorance that people have created for themselves. Thousands and tens of thousands of attachments and worries, like cycles within cycles and layers upon layers these attachments and worries have firmly plugged their minds. So tightly plugged that one is nearly suffocated, so densely blocked that it becomes indissoluble.Their purpose in life have been totally sunk into a loss and an illusion of the past, the present and the future. No time is ever spared to seek the real meaning of life. Hence, greed, anger, ignorance and desire come into being. Cause-Consequence comes into being and the endless floating and sinking of births and deaths come into being.Let's talk about happiness.(a) One should have an awareness of impermanence and not to emphasize on material life, be eager in one's pursuit of Truth, be willing to sacrifice oneself in order to serve the people so that they can transcend the cycle of rebirth. Vow to cease one's endless worries and vexations and cultivate oneself although there may be no end to such a road. Make oneself happy even in a very bitter environment and turn the suffering into wisdom, severe confusion and learn from the Buddhas, wipe out karma and do good deeds. In this way one's whole life won't pass by in vain.(b) One who has the ability to help others should do so eagerly and one who has wealth should make donations and help people generously. Those endowed with high morals should influence and reform others.So the happiest thing in the world is to do good deeds, to help others and to have a satisfied mind.The man of perfect virtues has three sources of happiness.1] That his parents and siblings are still living.2] He feels righteous even before God.3] He surrounds himself with talented people and is able to educate them.These are the delights that virtuous men desire. Make the devil your enemy but do not make people your enemy.Author: T.A Chew
Website: http://www.white-sun.comT.A Chew became a disciple of JiGong and a devotee of Tao of Heaven on 15th March 1995, the Chinese calendar. Since then he never looks back and starts practising Tao. As a vegetarian for more than ten years, he knows the importance of purifying his body, mind and soul. Vegetarianism comes naturally to him.