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Years ago, I found a plaque at a bargain store that read, “How we spend our days is how we spend our lifes.”  Against the part of me that screamed “spelling error!!,” I bought it and hung it in my en suite bathroom. This quote grounded me at a pivotal time in my life when the schedules of little ones seemed so beyond my control.  Child feeding time, working, changing a diaper, setting up a sitter, maybe a shower, planning flights for holidays, working, texting a friend, working, grocery shopping, cooking, emailing, picking up toys, going to the park - all tasks that took up my days back then and many that still do now.  I have since updated the decor in my bathroom and while I no longer have the misspelled plaque, I have found the original quote and corrected the spelling as I will share with you below.   

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. A schedule is a mock-up of reason and order—willed, faked, and so brought into being; it is a peace and a haven set into the wreck of time; it is a lifeboat on which you find yourself, decades later, still living.”

― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life, emphasis added

It is the end of August and likely mere days before the start of school for many.  Calendars are blowing up with sports schedules, required forms to sign, back to school events, therapy confirmation times ;), registrations for extracurricular activities, and maybe even a request from a friend or family member to take a trip together.  As you plan your schedule this season,  I beg you to step back and reflect:

How do I want to live this hour, this month, this school season?  

What do I genuinely value?  

How does my time reflect the values I want to instill within my family? 

How does my time reflect the values I want to live by within myself?  

Write down a mission statement for this school year and put it in your bathroom, or somewhere else where you will see it regularly.  It is a wise practice to write down goals, and in this case - your mission statement for the school year. Many do better with an example, so here is our mission statement! 

Mission Statement: Rise and Shine Family Therapy, LLC strives to provide quality, evidence-based treatment to youth and their caregivers through individual, group, and family services.  We aim to empower individual and family systems with skills that allow them to RISE from ambivalence, isolation, and distress to a place where they SHINE and grow in relationships, cognitions, and wellness; living with purpose. 

We’d like your Feedback!! Please complete this Anonymous Google Form to share your thoughts on how we are living up to our Mission https://forms.gle/9YnkrfDZvh7uC586A

Written for you by Shanna Kraai, Clinical Director & Therapist at Rise and Shine Family Therapy