Purposeful Aspirations Build Self-Worth

 

L. Jay Mitchell is the founder of Greenbrier Academy for Girls, a boarding school in rural West Virginia that provides tools for recovery and personal growth. A foundation of L. Jay Mitchell’s methodology and philosophy at Greenbrier Academy centers on purposeful aspirations to reach emotional well-being.

The Aspirations is a series of five virtue combinations that define healthy ways of giving and receiving love. A unified system, the Aspirations seek to persuade the students that they are lovable. Its components are courtesy/compassion, respect/gratitude, empathy/forgiveness, honor/humility, and trust/trustworthiness.

These combinations cut through the unhealthy core identity belief that a person is unlovable and help them overcome negative concepts such as “deficient,” “unworthy,” and “not enough.” Unfortunately, these concepts often are buttressed by a barrier of denial, with students desperate, for seemingly irrational reasons, to protect their negative core beliefs.

Forging a commitment to the Aspirations starts with the “Village” experience: a connective campus environment that encourages students to expand their concept of a loving self and release shame and harmful self-judgments. Through connections with other students and staff, students find pathways toward “the light within” and gain the impetus to share this positivity with others.

Reinforced by students and mentors who have gone through the process, young women at Greenbrier Academy learn to embrace the Aspirations and integrate them into everyday life. This investment in a positive self-image can last a lifetime and carry through to family long after graduation from Greenbrier Academy.