Meet Sharon Morton

We recently connected with Sharon Morton and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sharon, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I am choosing the topic of optimism because it is something I have had to work on and even today, I believe myself to be a very optimistic person, I still need to practice optimism daily.

I am not sure when I decided that optimism was the way to go, maybe I felt better by finding the silver lining in the dark clouds. I was that person that thought things were happening TO me, not FOR me. One day, I decided that everything I needed was everything I already had. I started reading self-help books and motivational quotes. I got interested in manifestation and learned what we think, we become. I want to be happy and help others find their happiness too.

When my youngest child was 5 years old, he was diagnosed with Autism. At first that was a shock, I knew he was behind his peers, but I never suspected Autism. It was hard to hear, but also a blessing because now I could learn to understand his behaviors and learn how best to parent him.

My son, Ellis, has taught me great patience and how to look at the brighter side of any situation and know that when I concentrate on the good, more good will come.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

In my early career, I was a daycare/preschool teacher. I have always loved working with children, and I also love music. I played clarinet in the high school and adult bands as well as sing in a chorus, in the car and at home….all the time. This love of music and children, and a very good friend, led me to the career I have today. I teach a music program called Music Together. This program is designed to foster primary music development to infants, toddlers and preschoolers and their grown-up.

The program was developed to help get music making, not just music listening, back into the homes and learning that making music is not just for professionals and you don’t have to be great to be a music maker.

I have been teaching this program for 26 years, and in 2021 I took over directorship from my mentor. So now, I teach and run the business. I very much love the teaching part, and I am learning to love the business part as well. It feels good to be in charge of myself as I learn and grow. I will forever be grateful to my mentor, who passed this business along to me when she retired.

Teaching the Music Together program, gives me the opportunity to still be working with young children and also their adults. It is a very rewarding job and when a small child sings back to me, I know I am right where I am supposed to be.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Well, I would say that I am compassionate and empathetic to others. I always want to help the other person, even if it is just sharing information that I have that they might not, like being grateful for what you do have brings more of what you want.

Music making is one of my skills too and another thing I can share with others.

Any advice I would give to others is, everyone is living their own story and the story is the one you tell yourself. You can and do create your own story, so make it what you want it to be. Be kind and always try to find the good in others, even when you feel they don’t deserve it. Live life the way you want to live it because in the end, all that is going to matter is were you happy and did you do the things you wanted to do. Sometimes making yourself happy might hurt another, in the short term but everything will always work itself out.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

One of my biggest challenges is learning to take my own advice when I am feeling down or less confident. One situation is, trying out and performing solos in the choir I sing in. I have some kind of confidence block that when I sing in public, I feel like I do not perform my best or even well. To overcome that, I keep trying out for solos and putting myself out there. I also believe journaling is helpful, even if it is only writing down three things I am thankful for at the end of the day.

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