“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.”—Elizabeth Edwards
I believe many of us are missing a great opportunity. In doing so, we are falling short of our potential. Worse, we are passing our fragility on to the next generation.
COVID-19 has been harder on some than on others, but (not to ignore the fact that some have died or been left with significant health issues), as Friedrich Nietzsche is often quoted: “That which does not kill me makes me stronger.” We, therefore, need to look to what we can benefit from the challenges/opportunities presented in our current circumstances.
As an educator, I am often presented with articles detailing the tremendous “stress” teachers are under during COVID-19. I do not doubt that these are difficult times—especially for older teachers who are not very tech-savvy. It is true that few of us are trained in online instruction. So, yes, many are being tested in the crucible of 2020. But, we must remember, our students depend on us and look to our responses in times of adversity. Is it not our responsibility (along with parents and coaches) to challenge our young and teach them resilience? Instead, we fuel their sense of hopelessness.
As educators, coaches, and parents, we should not be removing obstacles from the path, nor should we be creating an illusion of obstacles. Instead, we should be encouraging those who we are leading to embrace the challenges—the opportunities—that are before us. We should be leading them from “’have’ to ‘get’”, as my friend Andy Lausier would say. We get to face the opportunities before us with enthusiasm and gratitude (“grattitude”).
Learning new things is hard—as it should be—at any age. But learning—being challenges—is growth. In growth, we become better. We become resilient.
If we excuse our own fragility, we allow it in others. We pass our weakness on to the next generation.
What an opportunity we have in adversity. We get to grow, and we get to be a foundation for the next generations. Moreover, we get the satisfaction of overcoming.
I don’t want to hear how “bad” 2020 has been. I want to see what it is affecting in me and in others. I want to see how the experiences are leading me toward my Purpose. I want to enthusiastically greet whatever comes next. I want my children (and students) to do the same.
“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself-and be lenient to everybody else.”—Henry Ward Beecher
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!