Need vs. Choose | Japan Festival | Art Week
First, we're getting good number of signups for the Chinese Summer School, just opened this week. We only have about 1/3 of the seats left for the 1st week and 1/2 for the 2nd week.
And the Cambridge Parents Summit on May 12 is going well too, we already have 115 RSVPs and almost half are Parents of Color. Be sure to RSVP if you're planning to come, especially if you need childcare. (Big thanks on Creole & Spanish flyer translation help, Maria & FMA. :)
Also, this Sunday Memorial Drive is closed for biking, rollerblading. A bunch of us bike school graduates and friends are planning to go at 3pm. Hope to see you! :)
Last week, a friend was in town and gave me some great insights on how to talk to self in a more helpful way.
I don't know about you, but as a working mom a lot of my inner dialogue is about how I NEED to do things: I need to finish this pile of work, I need to get back to so-and-so, I need to remember to sign kids up. I need to stop drinking Diet Coke. I need to tell my husband to eat healthier. (O and he also needs to exercise more. :)
It's a long list and well, it can be exhausting. :(
My friend talked to me about being kind to myself. So when I say I “need” to do something, to pause and think more about why. After all, besides the fact of life and death, there's nothing I really need to do. :)
Take the issue of my daily Diet Coke habit, my friend suggested it'll be helpful to understand why I'd like to stop and what I enjoy about it.
Okay: I know Diet Coke is not healthy; it leaches calcium from my bones. Since my mom has borderline osteoperosis, losing calcium is probably not a good thing for my body. Yes, and my friend added that artificial sweetener can ironically make us gain weight.
And what do I like about the drink? Well it's refreshing, and I feel I'm already eating pretty healthy, maybe can cut myself some slack.
My friend suggested that once aware of the deeper motivations, it might open me up to the possibility that it's less about what I need to do, and more what I CHOOSE to do. While appreciating the drink feels refreshing, I can choose to forgo it in a conscious decision for my own health.
And if I relapse and do end up drinking one? No need to beat myself up again. I can just accept that sometimes refreshment wins but I can still choose differently next time. :) I also thought about, if I really want a cold drink, I could just drink some sparkling water.
A pretty simple mindset change right? And yet, it feels easier, because it doesn't have all the weight of what I must do, and how I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do, and feeling disappointed in myself, and my lack of discipline.
So for a week now, it's been no Diet Coke for me, and not even sparkling water! :)
Weekend Events
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Saturday, 9:30am - Sun., The Simoni Ice Arena, Cambridge
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Saturday, 1pm, Harvard University Harvard Square Cambridge
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Saturday, 1pm - Sun., Boston Sailing Center
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Saturday, 1pm - Sun., Boston Common
Kids, Bugs, Art: City Nature Challenge 2018
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Saturday, 1:30pm - Sun., Cambridge
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Sunday, 10am, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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Sunday, 11am, Cambridge
Community Conversations: Identity and Diversity
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Tuesday, 5:30pm, PAUS 102 Putnam Ave - enter through Kinnaird Street door
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Saturday 5/12, 9:30am, Fletcher Maynard Academy