You've heard the saying, "Hope springs eternal," I am certain, but do you really believe it? Many times people are hopeless and find little reason to believe in the imaginary, pie-in-the-sky, end of the rainbow, optimistic outcomes that we are told to focus on time and time again. What do you look forward to when you are down-in-the dumps, feeling like pond scum and classified by others as one of the bottom feeders in life? What then can make you find hope when hope has left the building? Last Saturday I gave a talk to an international teachers' organization entitled "Getting Back to Basics - Maintaining a Positive Attitude." Close to one hundred current and retired teachers were in the audience. In considering the topic, I decided to recall the outstanding moments of my teaching career because these were the moments that gave me the incentive to continue in the profession. These moments were not when I reached tenure or the top of the pay scale or even when I received a good evaluation or an award, but rather occasions when I touched the future for an individual student. These moments did not occur daily or even weekly, but when they did they helped define my career and caused me to focus on creating other such moments for students. I remember one situation in particular. A student, Mike, was known as a quarrelsome student who failed the junior level required English class twice before he enrolled in my do-or-die summer school class. I was told by his counselor, his former teachers, and by anyone who had an opinion that Mike was trouble in capital letters. I decided that I needed the summer employment so Mike and I would have to tolerate each other for the duration of summer school. Ultimately, Mike became one of my best students, and passed the class with a high grade - but this is not the end of the story. One day, going through the lunch line at school, I was talking about Mike to my assistant and stated that Mike proved himself very capable, was a strong student, and had a great deal going for him despite what others said to the contrary. When I arrived at the cashier, she looked at me and said only "Thank you." I asked, "For what? I haven't paid you yet." She responded, "You're the first teacher in eleven years of school who has ever said anything positive about my son." Not only was I taken aback, because I did not know that this was Mike's mother, I was hurt because this child had to wait eleven years for one positive remark from a teacher. Think about it. Isn't everybody deserving of being told they do something - anything - well? To this day, I still have the coffee cup displaying the positive affirmation that Mike's mom presented me with the next day - it begins with "Today is a new beginning. . . ." Today give someone a positive remark, a verbal pat on the back, and see what a difference you can make just by saying something sincere and positive. Get back to the basics of what it means to be human - acknowledge someone for their contribution and make a difference now where it ultimately counts the most.
Be Your Very Best Always,
Judy Williamson
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