Step Three

Back to school for a little while today, and it took nearly 3 hours to get all my grades entered and submitted.  At least that's behind me for 9 weeks, and for that I'm extremely grateful. My dad had cataract surgery this afternoon in his right eye, and fortunately all went well.  The nurse told him as she prepped him for surgery that he was going to be able to see so much better afterward.  I'm sure his sight had gradually gotten worse and worse, to the point that he probably wasn't even aware of just how bad it was, so when the patch comes off and he's finished with his eye drops, he'll see a whole new world!

As I took the third step of my journey today, I couldn't keep from thinking about selfishness. So many of us focus on "me" and not "we", and that stifles our growth so much.  Whether we're impatient with others, only in it for the benefit to ourselves, or only caring about our own feelings and not those of others, we cannot possibly complete our life's journey with a selfish attitude.  We all have our crosses to bear, and how we embrace, understand and carry those crosses impacts us and those around us.

I recently read an article about a woman, probably about my age, who felt she had made nothing of her life since graduation (she's a nurse).  Recently divorced, she was trying to get her finances to balance and trying to adjust to being single.  Her thoughts wandered back to her junior high days and the "bright spot" in her life...her home ec class.  She remembered the teacher making her feel noticed and she always found something positive to say about her students' projects.  Thirty years later, she still used what she learned in home ec.  No matter how tough things got, she could motivate herself by sewing, cooking or decorating.  She even had a second career as a decorating consultant.

The woman decided to tell her former home ec teacher how much she had impacted her life, so she found her address and mailed her a letter to let her know just what her encouragement had meant to her all those years ago.  Three days after having mailed the letter, the teacher called her at work to thank her for the letter and insisted that the woman visit her.  The next night, she did so.  Over a cup of tea, the teacher brought out her copy of the junior high yearbook and found the woman's picture.  In it, she was wearing a skirt she had made out of her mother's old drapes, which were about to be thrown away.  Mortified, the woman listened as the teacher praised her for her creativitity and imagination, then went on to tell the teacher that she was convinced she was a failure.  The teacher pointed out that everyone feels that way from time to time, and brought to the woman's attention the fact that she works with people who really need her.  Come to find out, the woman was a published author, and had saved a log cabin from being bulldozed down, fixed it up with antiques, and was living there. 

What an inspirational story!!  I left it for my students to read today in my absence with a note to let them know I want to be that teacher to them.  I want to be unselfish in respect, compliments, encouragement, and most of all in successfully teaching them the tools they need to survive in a sometimes difficult and selfish world.

Happy Trails!