‘This is going straight into the pool room’. We all need a place to put our encouragements. Where is yours?
Classic Australian comedy and especially loved by us Kiwis watching our ‘across the ditch’ neighbours making fun of themselves.
All of Dad’s most prized possessions are in the Pool Room.
All his mementos and things that remind him of something special.
So by him saying its going straight to the Pool Room meant he thought it was special.
I love the idea of having a pool room, a place for those things that remind one of something special.
In the movie, ‘The Castle’, the family have a Pool Room where there is a special table holding accomplishments and mementos.
Whether it be an ashtray made in prison by one of the sons or something of supposedly high-quality workmanship such as a Franklin mint Beer jug, they all find a place in the Pool Room.
I don’t have a Pool Room as such, but I do have a hallway and I do wonder if it has had a subtle influence on my children about what is important.
On the walls of our hallway, right where everyone passes through everyday, hang our academic achievements. On one side are my two degrees (not a telephone company) in Agriculture and Applied Theology and a Diploma in Agriculture.
On the other side are my wife’s Nursing diplomas. In a few weeks time, we will be adding a newly framed Masters in Nursing 1st Class Honors, no less, to the hallway.
We as a family will celebrate her achievement.
What I focus on gets me.
Focus on the negatives/ challenges will always take me down.
Focus on the positives/ good things will always give me hope.
All of my children I believe have been influenced by this hallway of achievement.
My daughter is doing a Ph.D in NeuroScience, my oldest son is getting A+’s in Economics at university and my youngest son is planning to change the world’s ecology. He will starting University next year.
I remember Dr. James Dobson telling a story of a distressed mother worried about her son who had run off to sea to be a sailor.
What had influenced him to do this? Well right in the living room was a picture of a ship battling through a storm-lashed sea and at the helm was a young man alive with excitement.
My point is this.
What you focus on will determine your outcome.
In having a ‘Pool Room’, or a hallway of achievement, there is a place where tangible reminders can be kept and used to refresh the mind.
Tangible – something you can hold, feel, grasp.
Intangible – something that is just in the brain, airy-fairy, abstract.
In a wrestle with Mental Illness, we need tangible reminders every day that life is not about the illness or the struggle. That things aren’t all depressing or hard. That you have a purpose.
You starve those doubting thoughts and feelings by feeding your soul on tangible ‘Pool Room’ prompts.
The Pool Room is not a place of self-praise, narcissism, or promoting yourself to others in unabashed pride. No, it’s a subtle place where you can say to your soul ‘Well done, keep going’.
How do you create a Pool Room?
- Find a place. Perhaps it will be a scrapbook that you use to paste photos, cards etc into. You could have a digital document or folder on your computer desktop to collect your digital reminders. I have a Pinboard just above my desk onto which I can pin those cards, notes, and photos.
- Start collecting. Grab those photos, achievements, notes, social media comments etc. Collect them all and file them where you can see them on a regular basis. Here is one I received yesterday on Facebook.
Hi Barry, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your blog posts on Turning the Page. I thoroughly enjoy them and always get something out of them. Thank you. Amanda Edwards
Into the ‘Pool Room’ document it went. - Form a habit of collecting and reflecting. Your habits will determine your future. Make it a habit to regularly add new encouragements and achievements. Go read those encouragements on a regular basis, especially when you need a boost.
- Encourage others to have a ‘Pool Room’. I always find that if I encourage others to have a ‘Pool room’ it encourages me to make it a priority. So go ahead and encourage a friend with the idea. Share your ‘Pool Room’ with others.
Questions to consider and leave a comment.
- How do you encourage yourself?
- Do you have a ‘Pool Room’ as such?
- Who could you encourage today?
Barry Pearman
