Often, I hear a lot of people think isolated thoughts such as "I don't like this." Be creative and figure out why you don't like something, and make that lemon into lemonade.
As a child, I almost drowned, and hence, I was scared of going into deep water. Now I swim once a week to keep fit and as therapy for my feet and back. I also try to medicate while I swim and some of my most creative connections have occurred while swimming. These creative connections include everything from great test questions for my students to positive actions I can do for my community and our earth. Here is an example:
I noticed a lot of clogged traffic at all of our schools, especially during special events and practices. For the elementary school, we would walk to events, and I would offer to take other children with me to decrease traffic congestion, but parents were not always willing to have their children walk the 0.5 miles to school, especially in the rain and in the dark.
Now that my children are in middle and high school, it is more difficult to walk the 1.5 miles to school. Hence, to minimize traffic jams, minimize car emissions, and to build a community, I offer rides to all the kids I know from our neighborhood that are going the same way. For example, last night, there were three sets of band practices at the middle school. I knew that one of the kids in my neighborhood is in the same band as my younger daughter while another one is in a different band. I looked up the schedule and realized that I could offer a ride to one neighbor going there, and then in addition to picking up two children (mine and a neighbor's) at the middle school, I could offer another child a ride to the middle school for her band practice since her band practice begins right after my child's band practice ends. Hence, we were able to take two more cars off the road, and at the same time, get a chance to talk to more neighborhood children. :-)
