I've written before that when I make an attempt to work out, I have to surround myself with distractions (music, television, etc.) to take my mind off the fact that I am doing something that I really don't want to do even though I know it is good for me. Recently, I've been listening to a podcast on Spotify called Weekly Motivation by Ben Lionel Scott. He compiles excerpts of motivational speeches and mixes in music in the background that helps you get over that hump which you really don't want to travel. Recently, as I was catching up on the old podcasts that I had missed, there was a portion from Jeremy Anderson entitled Define Your Worth that really got me thinking. As I listened to his inspiring words, I couldn't help but think about the year we have gone through as educators and how we have questioned ourselves about our effectiveness and been questioned by others about our role in the process of educating our students. We've struggled with defining our own value because we haven't felt like we've been adding too much value to the lives of the students. In the words of Mr. Anderson, we have been crumpled up, stepped on, and torn in half, so we must have lost value in the process, right?
The reality is that in spite of all the circumstances, crises, and trauma we have faced this year in the classroom, we have only added value to ourselves, our students, our school, and our community. We have persevered, we have become more creative, we have done the impossible. We have stared a pandemic in the face and said, you may have slowed us down, but we are still here and will continue to show up every day because our kids need us. We have taken it on the chin with poor attendance, apathy, and criticism, but we keep getting back up and refusing to be knocked out. If we did understand or know our value before, we certainly should know it now and it will become even clearer as we continue to move forward and face the obstacles ahead of us.
Now is the time to circle the wagons and express to one another the value we see in each other. Some need more help than others, but if we work together, we can lend a helping hand to our colleagues that need it the most. In some cases, we have those that are going to need more than Scotch tape to piece them back together. We need to channel our inner McGyver and make the most out of the limited resources we have in order to make them whole again. After all, our value can only be determined by our own self-worth, so we need to do our best to make sure that we all know how much we mean to each other. This can be accomplished through random acts of kinds, positive feedback, and some good old fashioned listening. These are all resources we have at our disposal and they are abundant, but we need to be willing to share. Each one of us is an important piece to the puzzle and until we all realize the value that we have, we won't be able to put the pieces together. Some just need a little more help than others.
#OwnYourEpic #FORGE
Posts
