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GROWTH
by Joy Jones
Failure
and success - between the two, I’d rather experience
success. But success comes with a price and failure has
a few rewards (albeit, dubious) attached to it. Read my
thoughts on this phenomenon in this reading from my
book, Private Lessons: A Book of Meditations for
Teachers.
I’d rather fail trying to do something great than to do
nothing and succeed.
One way of believing you could have been an A student,
is to never turn in your homework. That way, you think
that had you actually completed your homework, you would
have done it well - but since you didn’t, and no one
will ever know... why not assume it would have been an A
paper?
One way of believing you could have played in the NBA is
to drop out of school. That way, you think that had you
actually gone to college, a recruiter would have snapped
you up because you would have been such a star on the
court - but since you didn’t finish college, and no one
can say what would have happened anyway, well... why not
believe you would have played pro ball?
When we hear our students say these things, we recognize
them for what they are - excuses. Pitiful,
self-serving, ego-saving deceptions used to avoid taking
the chance, doing the work, facing the challenge.
Whether the playing field of confrontation is a
classroom, boardroom, or office, once you step into
the ring, you’ll have to fight the good fight and maybe
even lose. You’ll find out what your strengths and
weakness are - and you won’t find out by sitting in an
easy chair and reading about them in a book, but by
having your qualities put to an actual test. Yet even
if you fall short, you can still stand tall because the
experience will stretch you and make you grow.
Today’s
lesson:
Nothing has to stop me from doing my best as a teacher.
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