Christian Brothers High School • Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF COUNSELING and GUIDANCE “The Delicate Dance We Call Balance”
MARCH 2015
SPRING SEMESTER Christian Brothers High School Monthly Newsletter
www.cbhs-sacramento.org
students with lower motivational levels to create attainable goals and teaching them how to be successful at achieving these goals, while maintaining their social needs (which may be their greatest strength). At other times, we are working with students who have absolutely no problems with the motivation to succeed academically; who, in fact, need to learn how to make decisions to take better care of themselves emotionally and physically and to create that needed “harmony” that is healthy and that colleges look for. The author Simon Sinek said that “there is no decision that we can make that doesn’t come with some sort of balance or sacrifice”. Sometimes, that sacrifice part can be particularly difficult to accept. But, as we all know, it is often times worth it. With the New Year now in full swing and the recent beginning of our Lenten journey, we have no doubt been looking at the resolutions that we have made and are trying to keep. Most of these resolutions reflect an effort to make a readjustment to our lives and bring them more into balance. If we have vowed to exercise more, eat healthier foods and lose weight, then we probably feel that there is a reason for this. If we are cutting back on the use of social media, television viewing or video games, then we must feel that we are out of balance in some way. If we are focusing on the way that we treat others, it is probably because we feel that this needs some work. Remaining “upright and steady with things in the proper proportion, so that we don’t fall” and “comparing the value of one thing to another” satisfies those dictionary definitions that I cited earlier and can bring growth and happiness to our lives. The scientist Maxwell Maltz said that “man maintains his balance, poise and sense of security only as he (or she) is moving forward”. Here’s to you and your efforts to find the proper balance for you and your family, as you continue to move forward this year!
INSIDE
Living in a society that at times can be obsessed with “excess” and an “all or nothing mentality”, I am finding myself, lately, fixated on the concept of creating BALANCE in all that is going on in my world. My two pre-teen daughters have heard me and my wife talking incessantly about balancing the family budget or bringing more balance into our daily diets, balancing our use of technology with actual face-to-face conversations and reading (yes…reading). Also high on that list is balancing “friend-time” with “family-time” and “work-time” with “play-time”. Recent research is pointing to sleep deprivation as a growing problem in our society, especially with teens, and doctors point out that having a proper balance of activities and sleep is vital in bringing some equilibrium to our bodies and brains, thus allowing us to function at a higher level. The dictionary definitions of the word BALANCE brings us both nouns and verbs. The noun version tells us that it is “an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady” and “a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportion”. The verb definition is “to keep or put something in a steady position so that it does not fall” and “to offset or compare the value of one thing with another”. I feel that all of these can be applied to us in some way. In my work as a school counselor for over thirty years, I have found myself sitting across from a countless number of young men and women who have needed some guidance on how to try to balance being a good student with being able to enjoy high school life and all of its exciting social, artistic, athletic and at Christian Brothers, spiritual opportunities. I hope and pray that I have been helpful to them, but it is a delicate dance to counsel, mentor or parent someone in a way that is “not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves” as the famous movie director Steven Spielberg has been quoted as saying. At CB, the philosophy of our Counseling and Guidance Department is to provide quality academic, college and personal counseling to our students who have important decisions to make on a daily basis. The entire counseling team wants to help students to create their best-selves and to build the coping skills necessary for continued success in high school and as life-long learners. Sometimes, this might mean helping
Sincerely,
Kirk Purdy Director of Counseling and Guidance
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