Roma Khetarpal's Blog, page 4

The Power of Purposeful Parenting with Kristin Bednarz

I had an exciting time in my interview with Kristin and like my session with Kristin, this conference is packed with perspectives tips, and tools to support you through this challenging time in parenting.

Children are the building blocks of the future. It is our job, as parents, to build our children up to their highest potential. THIS requires is to parent purposefully–by being MINDFUL and CONSCIOUS so that we can raise kids that are connected, confident, and compassionate.

I know this sounds like every parent’s dream but we all know that it is sometimes overwhelming to think about how to achieve this on our own and we could use some help. Well, here it is! Talks and interviews on different issues, in different ways, from different experts–because our children are all different and benefit from different practices! This is exactly why Kristin Bednarz has masterfully curated this informative panel!

Are you ready to break from overwhelm and be empowered to raise connected, confident, and compassionate children? Join me for a FREE online series hosted by Kristin Bednarz titled The Power of Purposeful Parenting!

You will have the opportunity to embark on an amazing journey, gaining powerful insight from an incredible panel of 23 experts to help you become a more confident, calm, and joyful parent! I know you are ready to be empowered as a parent as you learn to connect and understand your children on a much deeper level and nurture their development. This will allow you to intentionally build the foundation for your future thriving children! You only have a 48 hour window to watch each of the speakers so make sure to stay on top of the schedule and look out for my interview starting July 8th!

Join FREE now here: https://thepowerofpurposefulparenting.com/Share

Feel free to follow our updates on Instagram or Facebook!

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#Father’sDay

The BEST gift we can give our fathers is family harmony!

As we get ready to make family plans for Father’s day, make sure you’re taking into account the life lessons we have learned from our daily life in this pandemic. Don’t let fear and worry spawn chaos and disconnection. Communicate, take everything into consideration, and make sure every party is comfortable with creating a safe environment to reconnect with.

Feel free to watch this video on Instagram or Facebook. Leave a comment and let me know how you are planning to spend the weekend!

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A Universal Human Acceptance Movement

I feel like I’m living on an internal planet that I didn’t even know existed within my physical body and my consciousness. In the last few weeks, the pandemic led us into living situations, working situations, and life situations that we had never experienced before. The mainstream media terms, “unknown, unchartered, and unprecedented” were never heard, felt, and lived more as we buckled down to digest and brace a new “normal.” I felt like I was out of breath carrying the weight of the shifts that were happening personally and professionally with no routine, consistency, or normalcy – as we once knew it—in sight.

After closely listening to friends, observing family members, hearing my cohorts at a UCLA training that I’m enrolled in, having conversations with education leaders and parents/clients that I work with, and self-examining in long meditations, I was starting to embrace the ever-changing climate. We really were all in this together. The circumstances created by the pandemic were leading us into a global transformation, a shift of reevaluating, reinventing, and restarting our lives through the lessons we were are all learning from this very different way of life. As hard as it has been, in the halt that our lives came to, we all knew that there is no other way than for us to move from resistance to acceptance. We are sowing new seeds of deeper connection with our families, friends, and communities, making changes in our professions and work life, experiencing shifts in our attitudes, and, most of all, adopting a renewed value for life and how we want to spend our time. With more than 400,000 deaths globally, the pandemic has paved the way for a new awakening in each one of us.

Little did we realize that it was not THE awakening! Little did we know that this storm of change was only setting the stage for the tsunami of awakening that followed the death of Mr. George Floyd. Actually, George Floyd didn’t just die, he ascended. And with him, the entire world transcended—to a higher consciousness of humanity …forever. Who would have thought that the video clip of racial injustice that unfortunately has become all too familiar in the media would be the breaking point of our tolerance? Without our conscious awareness, the pandemic had also tilled the soil for new seeds of universal human acceptance to be planted. I use the term universal human acceptance because the words diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice can only become mainstream if we, as temporary occupants of the universe, have dared to tear down the walls of separation we have built for race and the color of our skin. Universal human acceptance is our calling to accept and respect our diversities, to highlight our equity – moving us from exclusion and seclusion to inclusion, disintegrating racial injustice, hopefully completely.

We have always innately known that even when the color of our skin is different, the color of our blood is the same—we are all connected in this way. We knew this but didn’t accept it. Once we accept something, we can start to chart the steps to live by it—paving a new road for coming generations to walk on. While the pandemic highlighted our oneness, this new movement is highlighting the acceptance of our differences. When we embrace and honor each other’s uniqueness while celebrating our oneness, our sameness, we erase our separateness.

Little did we realize that the pandemic that made us stop, gather our courage and strength, refuel our bodies and souls, and embrace an attitude of “we are all in this together” was a divine setting of the stage and storing of the collective energies that would fuel, fire up, and give birth to this civil movement of universal human acceptance!

Just as riding the pandemic required us to rewire, so will the racial justice movement. One has paved the way for the other. Both issues have taken us to a beginner’s mind—where we can continue to learn and grow. It is time for a new beginning with this Universal Human Acceptance Movement, and we all are a part of it. We are all writing history so we can make a change and a difference—so we can live life full on, so we can live a life where each breath pays homage to the human connection.

The pioneers and activists of the racial justice movement have spent their entire lives preparing for this moment, but our work as a global community has just begun. We need to follow their lead in educating ourselves further on the injustices that we could clearly see and those that most of us didn’t even know existed systemically and institutionally. We need to start having these discussions with our children even as we identify and work through our own implicit and explicit biases. Most of all, we have to acknowledge the expression of generations of pain that our black mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children have carried. We have to let them know that those of us who didn’t carry the weight of racial injustice in our day-to-day lives are here to lift them up and to hold them up when they need someone to lean into when they need a shoulder to rest on. This is our work together. It is clear that once again, we are all in this together.

Yesterday, my niece, who is both African American and Indian, shared this in our family chat. It brought me to my knees. If you don’t know where to start, start with this. If you’re already doing some work, you will draw inspiration from this. If you are an activist and a leader for racial and social injustice, you will draw comfort from this:

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#MyStory – Silver Linings

This week I’m sharing a story about the silver linings of the stay-at-home order. We might be social distancing from the people we could regularly interact with, but perhaps you’ve become even closer connected to those in your immediate surroundings?

What skills are you committing to build as we work towards reopening our community and reconnecting with the people we love? 

I hope that you have been following my #MyStory movement in sharing stories about our times during these unsettling times, and that they have been growing with you as they have been growing with me. Watch this video on instagram to like, share, or discuss the importance of this movement with me!

If you would like to share your own #MyStory, please do so below in the comments section or email me directly at mystory@toolsofgrowth.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

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#MyStory – Family

This week I’m sharing a story about the silver linings of the stay-at-home order. We might be social distancing from the people we could regularly interact with, but perhaps you’ve become even closer connected to those in your immediate surroundings?

What skills are you committing to build as we work towards reopening our community and reconnecting with the people we love? 

I hope that you have been following my #MyStory movement in sharing stories about our times during these unsettling times, and that they have been growing with you as they have been growing with me. Watch this video on instagram to like, share, or discuss the importance of this movement with me!

If you would like to share your own #MyStory, please do so below in the comments section or email me directly at mystory@toolsofgrowth.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

The post #MyStory – Family appeared first on Tools of Growth.

#MyStory – Family

How, as a family, are we building stronger relationships and bonds with our family during our time together? How do we come together during both expected and unexpected moments in our lives?

One of the most difficult parts of building a long-lasting relationship isn’t finding our partners, but how we come together in our day to day experiences and support each other through the simple and complex moments in life. Family is more than a group of related individuals. It is our constant endeavor to love and support one another through each day-to-day moment. This week’s #MyStory is dedicated to the power of family in our current circumstances.

I hope that you have been following my #MyStory movement in sharing stories about our times during these unsettling times, and that they have been growing with you as they have been growing with me. Watch this video on instagram to like, share, or discuss the importance of this movement with me!

If you would like to share your own #MyStory, please do so below in the comments section or email me directly at mystory@toolsofgrowth.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

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#MyStory – Happy Mother’s Day!

I am dedicating this week’s shared post to you, mothers! Happy Mother’s Day to each one of you! This beautiful story comes from a front line worker who juggles between going to work every day and being a mother. Her story here shows how perceptive our children and how they are working through these waves of emotion with us. Check out this short video for some great tips in how to address these difficult emotions with your kids.

I hope that you have been following my #MyStory movement in sharing stories about our times during these unsettling times, and that they have been growing with you as they have been growing with me. Watch this video on instagram to like, share, or discuss the importance of this movement with me!

If you would like to share your own #MyStory, please do so below in the comments section or email me directly at mystory@toolsofgrowth.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

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#MyStory – What is it like being a senior high schooler right now?

As you might have seen, I have been collecting various stories to share and move us all. I believe that sharing stories that have moved me and made me really think about the possibilities of our current climate will ultimately bring us together to discuss these possibilities and the importance of staying connected.

This week I will be sharing a story that really left me with a profound feeling of sadness, but that has solidified my resolve to continue sharing these stories with you. Here, I will talk about a high school senior, who after receiving her acceptance letters and finding out she had not been admitted to her parents’ top colleges for her, was thrown out of her home. Yes, even in the midst of a pandemic.

Watch this video on instagram or facebook to like, share, or discuss the importance of this movement with me!

If you would like to share your own #MyStory, please do so below in the comments section or email me directly at mystory@toolsofgrowth.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

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#MyStory – What is your story?

My husband always asks me: “Roma, how do you have the patience to listen to our elderly parents’ stories for hours on end?” 

It’s because I love stories. 

Through stories we can experience each other’s experiences, share our feelings and perspectives, become a part of each other’s lives and most importantly, we get to draw our own learning lessons from every story!

Our current climate and its challenges are birthing story after story that will make history! To me hi-story is the “hindsight story”. As a global community, the stories we write today will be stories we will share in hindsight with our grandchildren!

I would love to hear these “high-stories” from all of you. These stories of high fear, anxiety, stress, sadness, anger and frustration that we are balancing daily with higher connectedness, equanimity, compassion, kindness, and laughter!

Every day, I will pick stories that move us all and open them up for discussions and learning. I will share stories that have moved me and made me really think about the possibilities of our current climate. Please share your #MyStory below in the comments section or email me directly at mystory@toolsofgrowth.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Today I would like to share a story about a mother who’s two young boys regularly fight when home. Staying home, and having everyone home at the same time, was something that she dreaded when the Stay-At-Home order started. Although her story starts with fear and uncertainty, as a parent, you’ll soon find it moving you as it moved me.

Watch this video on instagram or facebook to like, share, or discuss the importance of this movement with me!

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Parenting is… highlighting the current state of equanimity to our kids.

Parenting is… highlighting the current state of equanimity to our kids.

During last week’s grocery run, I noticed that I was picking up brands of foods that I would never have picked before. In fact, with the current state of imbalance in the supply-demand chain caused by the COVID-19 crisis, I’m forced to give up my current “preferences” and simply be grateful for—and pick up—whatever is available on the shelf. Doing that, I’ve discovered something new within myself, an opening up.

This openness has also been experienced by my family! For example, my husband loves Tate’s gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, which are impossible to find right now. So I picked the only gluten-free chocolate chip brand I found on the shelf last week—Goodie Girl. Normally, there are at least 10 choices on the shelf at any given time, but I’ve only been looking for the Tate’s because it’s “our” brand. Why change something that perfectly fine? Well, we are now all being coerced to make these shifts with our daily staples—rice, beans, meats, milk, and so on. We are taking what is available. Better yet, we are sharing whatever’s available!

My picky children (wonder where they got it from!) are so busy riding the ever-changing waves of our family business that they haven’t even noticed that I’ve replaced brown rice with buckwheat because there is no rice on the shelf! They eat, say thanks, and move on with their day. How wonderful this is for the new brands that normally struggle to get their products into the market, let alone get the exposure on the same shelves as established leading brands. This is unplanned, divine equanimity for sure!

In a task force briefing last weekend, President Trump said that he was proud that Republicans, Democrats, and Liberals were all working together as one nation! Who would’ve thought that at a time (election year) when political differences are the most boldly highlighted, our political leaders are baring their hearts to humanity as a leadership team. As never before, we stand as “one nation, indivisible, with justice for all”—another shining example of equanimity.

The same nations that were imposing a war of economic sanctions on each other six months ago, are now wrapped in the arms of travel bans and holding each other up. They have put aside everything to work together by sharing information, infection control products, and research (to name a few) to uplift and heal our human race. Global equanimity.

Look at our distance-learning model right now! Does it matter which schools our children attend? Private, public, charter, magnet, community colleges, universities? They’re all “homeschooling” right now. Appropriate to their level of academic learning, they’re all using one single, equal medium—digital. Equanimity in learning!

When we embrace equanimity in industries, politics, and learning, we are breaking down old walls and making room for curiosity and creativity. I find myself looking at new grains like teff and new unfamiliar vegetables like cave beans and rappini with a beginning cook’s curiosity: How will this taste? What can I make with this? When I reach out to my network or experts in education to brainstorm on how I can support teachers right now, I’m looking at my professional life with a new lens on how to serve them best. I’m gearing up to launch my Mindful Teachers’ Training courses for free, with no strategy and no plan, because life just blew up my planned April 15 launch!

Every day, I’m feeling free and curious to see how this new sense of openness will play out. This curiosity has birthed new creativity, new ideas, and new ways to serve. I’ve exchanged my heavy plan of “doing” for a liberating no plan of “being.”

We have all grown up tremendously in the past three weeks. We are touching the high consciousness in our interconnectedness and the priceless equity in equanimity. Our collective equanimity is ushering in curiosity and creativity—as individuals, as a community, as a nation. We have to reframe our lives as individuals. We have to reinvent our children’s education system. We have to repair our community’s seams of inequality, which have burst open at this time. We have to reorganize our businesses. We have to reconstruct our economy. We have to rebuild our nation!

I have faith that we will do this with the foundational air of connectedness and equanimity that we are all breathing right now. I’m glad that we will be changed forever. I’m excited and proud that our children will be a product of this huge capacity of human potential! Our feelings of interconnectedness and equality are no longer traits that we have to develop. They are now precepts that we are living by.

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