Not Jaded (Thank God)

In my vow to do some purging of stuff that has simply been sitting here TOO long (such as student surveys from 2010 that, honestly, I still may have trouble parting with), I found a couple of things that formed together this blog post.  They reinforced that not only am I not jaded by my teaching career, I continue to thrive -- for I have a grounding in the key to success.

The first thing I found was this quote from Amy Pohler:

...ambivalence is the key to success.

I will say it again. Ambivalence is the key to success.

You have to care about your work but not about the result. 

You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel...

This made sense to me when I first read it, and it still makes sense to me now.  For I know the more I stick with not being attached to outcomes, the better outcomes I receive.

But that's not all.  I then found this:

Back in an earlier life, I made some money with a part-time job promoting a Read-A-Thon to elementary and middle schools in the Northeast Ohio area to benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It was lucrative and fun, and put me in front of lots of audiences to use my speaking and teaching skills.

The ink on the page above represents my thoughts about working with young people, written on January 27, 1998.  The thing that struck me is that I could write every word of this today and still believe with the same fervor. 

At the time, I was a volunteer youth sponsor for Unity Church's teen group called Youth of Unity. More importantly, I was just starting to toy with the idea of becoming a teacher, and what that meant: years of college, resting on an uncertainty of even beginning to make that happen. So much happened afterward, and less than a year later I was taking my first two college courses.

Here is what I wrote that fate-filled day:

to be filled...to connect with a child...to listen to a teen...to listen to laughter...to see the answers appear through their eyes...to help them see new ways...to listen when they have new ways...and AFFIRM...to encourage them to be their best...to know they have a best...to honor their journey...to know they have sacred contracts with those in their life, so judgment is never needed or necessary...to be a natural adult...to not be part of the wound but part of the light...to nurture their dreams...to be available...to witness their passion...to guide their souls...to care always, not just when it's convenient...to not play a comparison game...to guide gently...to use tough love sparingly and thoughtfully...to comfort...to cherish...to smile genuinely...to plan and prepare, yet be flexible...to open to the voice of spirit in times of trouble...to let go gracefully when the time has come...to keep a safe boundary...to teach them safe boundaries...to pray with...play with...work with...team up with...and in every moment knowing that there is no place better.