WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE

Hello Aspire Centennial,

HAPPY MONDAY!

I hope everyone is enjoying their three day weekend and getting some rest and relaxation before starting our 4th week tomorrow morning. Goodbye August, and hello September.

I wanted to share an offering that was given to me this past week, that made be think about our short term and long term goals. Thank you again Ms. Yesenia Hernandez for this offering. She shared with me her thoughts and perspective on a book titled Where You Go, There You Are. After she shared her thoughts about it I became intrigued about the book and wondered what it could teach me about my life, daily practice, and the goals I hope to complete by the end of the calendar year. Below are two links. One is the audio book and another is philosophers notes (summarize version) of the book.

Audio Book

Philosophers Notes

I am still listening to the audio book, but the philosophers version offers up some key points that grounded my thinking in the past few days. Brian Johnson, philosopher and CEO of Optimize Enterprise, share his interpretation of Where You Go, There You Are in the philosophers notes. Some of my biggest takeaways from the video were:

Use every challenge as an opportunity to grow
Use our greatest gift is in service of the world
Everything is practice

One thing I know about myself is that I am my own biggest critic. There is no one harder on me, than me. Over the years I have become so frustrated with myself when things don't go as planned, and important action items fall through the cracks. What Jon Kabat Zinn and Brian Johnson are offering is that every challenge is an opportunity to grow. Everything we do is practice! Similar to athletics we must continue to strengthen our muscles in order to become stronger, and a better version of ourselves. like muscles we are constantly growing and developing. This process sometimes is infinite. However, we as imperfect human need to take a step back and know that development takes time. It is a process, and is going to take time to reach out end goal. Do not feel discouraged, we will take this journey together.

I am honored to take this journey with you all. A journey of changing the lives of every students and every community member who enters our halls. Thank you for your commitment and continuing to show up everyday. It is through your love and passion to change the world that makes working at CCPA a great pleasure. As we take this journey, lets stop to celebrate the everyday small wins. Lets use that as fuel to keep us going through these hard times.

Thank you again for your committment. Lets continue to RISE CCPA! Have a great day and a great weekend.

Best,

Mike

The Week Ahead

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