Saturday, April 11, 2015

Absolutely Authentic from A to Z! Jovial

The definition for jovial is cheerful and friendly according to dictionary.com   I find it really hard to be cheerful all of the time, much less to be authentically jovial.  As a teacher there are many days when I feel like my students are doing things on purpose just to frustrate me.  Sometimes they are, and sometimes they are not.  I oftentimes thinking to myself...how do I keep myself cheerful and friendly during those times?  How can I let go of whatever is frustrating me and just work through the situation, and then let it go? 

I feel like being authentically jovial means finding the good things in every situation...because there are always good things.  I think it also means laughing at myself.  Oftentimes when I am finding myself not wanting to be cheerful it is because I am afraid of looking dumb in front of someone else.  Finally I think that being authentically jovial means not taking anything too seriously.  After all when I look back at the moment in question in another 5 or 10 years, is it really going to be that important?  Most likely it probably won't.  So why shouldn't I feel as cheerful as I can, in as many moments of the day as I can? 

What is your view on being authentically jovial?  Do you find cheerfulness and friendliness the same? 




3 comments:

Stephanie Faris said...

Life isn't about what happens to us--it's about how we react to it. May as well smile and be happy, right?!

Empty Nest Insider said...

I agree with Stephanie. I know it must be frustrating being a teacher, but acting like nothing bothers you instead of reacting to your students poor behavior, may take some of the fun out of it for them. Of course, it's easier said than done.

Julie

tawnya said...

Yes! Very true!!!