Nobody wants a windowless office, but that’s what the middle school where I work as a coach gave me. I could tell it put the students who came to see me in a bad mood too.
One day, I actually counted the cinderblocks in the walls. There were 211. I painted the blocks in the school colors: gray, black and bright yellow.
Big improvement. But the space still needed something. One evening during dinner, my son, Trenton, had a suggestion for me: “Why not write some favorite quotes on the blocks?”
Trenton was right on. Quotes had changed my life—I always seemed to find one to inspire me at just the right moment. A couple favorites are “WIN—What’s Important Now” and “I believe there is nothing more artistic than to love people.”
I organized my thoughts into categories, my favorite being positive thinking. Then I printed the quotes on the cinderblocks, as Trenton had suggested. Soon the kids at my school were seeing another point of view. The quotes crystalized truths and even helped with conflict resolution.
These days, when students have to spend time in my office, they leave with food for thought.
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