winston churchill - 6 things to do

the nobel prize in literature was given to winston churchill in 1953 for his

mastery of historical and biographical description

as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.

more information about his nobel prize here.

of course, in addition to his nobel prize, churchill was the inspirational british leader during the 2nd world war.

henrik edberg of sweden posted a lovely article about him in 2011, and

it's still worth a look.

in short edberg listed 6 fundamental habits distilled from churchill's words.  

see what you think:

1.  focus on what you are doing right now.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead.  Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.  

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.

with august beginning, some children get excited or apprehensive about school.  

it's still summer, though, so while completing assignments and shopping for supplies, it's helpful to keep the focus on family joys.

2.  be concerned about action.

I never worry about action, but only about inaction.

3.  be an optimist

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.  The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.  

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

I am an optimist.  It does not seem too much use being anything else.  

4.  be persistent.  don't give up.

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.

If you're going through hell, keep going.

to learn in school, children need to work hard and make mistakes.  
we need to teach them to persist through difficult assignments, right on 
the edge between what they can do and what they haven't yet mastered.    

5.  don't lose the enthusiasm.

success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.  

we want our students to experience success, and some children need to work very hard to achieve it.  enthusiasm for learning, though, can be modeled both at home and at school.  

6.  remember, most troubles never happen.

When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.

so let's go into august committed to live and enjoy each moment, even as we work to get ready for another school year.  

joy to you.