Welcome back to Sunday Journal, a chance to start your week out with short, quiet reflections and advice for life.
This effort started with a handwritten journal I keep for each of my children, designed to give them a sense of how to become the best version of themselves. If you find this valuable, please share it with others.
As always, we have three sections: reflections to put into practice, an inspirational quote, and a painting to bring serenity.
As back to school season is in full swing, it brings to mind those days (not that long ago) when I used to pick my children up from elementary school.
From the first-grader’s enthusiasm to see me to the fifth-grader’s near-indifference, influenced by looming middle school aloofness, they always responded to the greeting “How was your day?” with the same monosyllabic grunt: “Good.”
If this is your experience or if you want to attempt to elicit a more conversational tone from your pre-teen, the questions in this week’s reflections will bring that out.
As a bonus, they also work at the end of your day, perhaps when you’re spending a moment writing in a journal or notebook as you reflect on your day.
Reflections
Consider asking these of yourself or of someone you care about at the end of the day.
What was the best part of your day?
Did anything surprise you today?
Who are you proud of today?
When did you feel proud of yourself today?
What’s one thing that would have made today better?
What was the most interesting thing you learned today?
What did you play during recess / what did you do in your downtime?
Who were you kind to today?
Who was kind to you today?
What’s one thing you’d like to try at school / in your career?
What’s a mistake you learned from today?
Quote
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” — Aristotle
Image
Winslow Homer painted this scene of a country school in 1871, nearly two decades after Massachusetts became the first state to pass a compulsory education law in the United States.
Oh, and if you’d like to read more on Reflection, I’ve got a whole section dedicated to that topic.
There’s so much to learn,
