November 2023 USM ASSOCIATION OF OFFICE PROFESSIONALS

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

I'm not sure about y'all, but I am excited for the holiday season! I always look forward to spending additional time with family and friends this time of the year. I also love seeing the elevated level of joy, excitement, and generosity that people embrace this time of the year. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and take the time to rest and rejuvenate over the holiday break.

As a reminder, our inspiration during this year’s four general meetings is a mini book study on the book The Four Agreements. During our last general meeting, we discussed the second agreement, "Don't Take Anything Personally." Here is a quick recap of what we talked about:

Don't Take Anything Personally

• Nothing others do is because of you.
• What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.
• When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be a victim of needless suffering.

In the book, Ruiz says that nothing others do is because of you. Instead, what others say and do is a projection of their own reality. Let’s reflect on this for a minute. Take a minute and just think about the people you interact with on a day-to-day basis. Your family, people you work with, people you see as you drop off or pick up your kids, people you drive by on your way to work, or people you see at a restaurant or at the grocery store. How many of these people do you think woke up in the morning and thought to themselves, “Hmmm...How can I hurt Joyce today with my words or actions?” “What can I do to really ruin her day?” I believe there are very few people in the world who wake up and say, “How can I intentionally hurt others with my words and actions today?” It can be really easy for us to say “Wow, so and so is a real jerk” (and yes, maybe they are), but what if instead we thought “Wow, I wonder what they are going through or what they have been through to cause them to treat me like that?”

Now, Ruiz isn’t saying that we should let people treat us like a doormat, he simply says that “when you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you aren’t a victim of needless suffering.” I hope you can see the value in this advice like I do and I hope it helps you find more joy in your life!

Fall Professional Development Series

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our Fall professional development workshops! We have had some great presentations so far:

• Artificial Intelligence Now and In the Future, presented by Jennifer Lewis, M.Ed., MHA
• Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body, presented by Kristen White, LMSW
• Principles of Leadership, presented by Dr. Emily Holmes

Mississippi Association of Educational Office Professionals (MAEOP) Professional Development Seminar

We had the pleasure of hosting the MAEOP Professional Development Seminar on November 17th at the USM Hattiesburg campus! I was excited to see both familiar and new faces joining us for a great day packed with quality professional development. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a great success! Check out some pictures of the event below: