Feed your body, but don’t neglect your brain. (photo by me, 2010)
My 6th grade teacher, (I’m now 62) the late Ann Humphrey repeatedly admonished us that “Any day you don’t learn something new is a day you have wasted.” Fifty years later, I still repeat that phrase almost daily.
Today, I learned that there is a term for phrases like “It is what it is and ” It’s in God’s Hands,” etc. These are sayings meant to short circuit cognitive dissonance and to bring an end the discussion. They are known as “Thought Terminating Cliches”
Cognitive dissonance is defined as the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
I looked up the term and it is real. These phrases often make us comfortable as we decide not to think about the real causes for a situation. I had never tought about using those sayings over the years, but now will be very conscious of them as I am reminded of another phrase I leasrned from another mentor and friend, Todd Van Beck back in 1983; “Healthy psychology dictates meeting life’s problems head-on.”
Thank you, Mrs. Humphrey and Mr. Van Beck.
Mitigating Chaos 
Dude stop aging your friends. I did not have Humphrey but had Mrs. Austra. She changed my life. I will never forget her. Mrs. Humphrey did toss an eraser at me once for being a smart a___s. But those where the days kids could be kids and teachers could be real teachers.
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