My job supervising student-teachers requires school visits each week. I saw this quote on the wall of a 3rd grade classroom a few weeks ago and immediately wanted to share it with my kids:

As someone who has struggled with anger and impatience (and the occasionally silly and inflexible child), I love this message. It validates having negative feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, but subtly reminds us we can choose to nurture the positive ones, instead. It suggests we are partly responsible for our own happiness, a message that I'd like to instill in my children. This quote reminds me of my recent focus on perspective. Misfortune is inevitable in life, but how we look at the world, or in this case, where we put our energy, can have a big impact on how we get through those times.