Personal Power and 1 Year of Success!

Happy Birthday Blueskies! 

We are extremely excited to be able to share this year with all of you. A year ago today, Blueskies opened its first office. The techniques and strategies our Founder had been using for over 25 years finally focused into one goal: ending bullying and creating safe environments. It's a big goal but we're up to the challenge. We'd like to thank everybody who has had a part in helping Blueskies grow to this point and to make it to our one year! 

Needless to say, a lot has been going on recently at Blueskies. One of our most important activities this summer has been our Empowerment Group. Our Empowerment Group focused on empowering each of our group members and was available for children and teens. Each session spanned 6 weeks and met every Tuesday. We are currently finishing our second and last session for the summer. 




We all have our own personal power... 

Throughout the summer Blueskies has been offering an Empowerment Group for children and teens. The topics discussed are personal power, perseverance, and bullying survival strategies. The participants learned what personal power was, and how each of them has the ability to access that power. They were introduced to bullying prevention strategies, and thought critically about different bullying situations. 


We define personal power as the ability to be aware of yourself, your emotions, and understanding that you can make decisions which can impact your well-being in both positive and negative ways. Our group discussed ways we give up our personal power as well as ways we hold onto our personal power. 





You give up personal power when you:

• Don't think for yourself
• Are not assertive
• Isolate yourself

You hold onto your personal power when you:

• Think before making decisions
• Surround yourself with people who support you
• Take control of your situation by including people you trust to help you

Confidence

Guest speaker, Carlos Avellan is a Kenpo instructor in Lawrence, MA. He spoke to the group about confidence. 

"You have the right to be yourself no matter what anybody else thinks or says. Everyone is unique and important because they are different."

"Know that your difference is what makes you special and that you should be confident about that. Present yourself in a confident way. The way you speak and the way you look will present confidence. Shoulders back, look straight ahead instead of to the ground." 

"Any skills you have, do them to your best ability and be proud of it! Since there is nobody else like you, be the best at being you!"

"There will always be people trying to put you down or hold you back, but you have the power to keep doing your best and moving on."

One of the best examples of personal power is a man named Nick Vujicic who was born without arms or legs. Our group listened to excerpts of his presentations and discussed what we could learn from him. View a video of Nick here. Check out Nick's website Life Without Limbs.

Some of the lessons they took from Nick's life were: 

"Nothing can stop you from being the best you can be. If you fall, stand up again!"


Take Home Power

I bet you were wondering what these power take-home boxes were for! Each box personified one group member's personal power. They wrote down what personal power now meant to them and filled their own boxes with their ideas of power. 

Here are some of the things they wrote down:

• Confidence
• Doing well in school
• Standing back up when you fall down
• Being proud of who you are
• Making the right decisions
• Talking to someone older than you
• Choosing the right friends

We added a few tips to start the new school year:

• Talk to new people and make friends
• Don't be afraid to ask for help from people you trust
• Never be alone
• Walk with your shoulder's back 
• Look straight ahead when you're walking 

So what are you going to do to hold onto your personal power?


Priscilla B.
Director of Administration
Blueskies Wellness, Inc.
45 Osgood Street
Methuen, MA 01844
blueskieswellnessinc@gmail.com
blueskieswellnessinc.org
facebook.com/BlueskiesWellnessInc