4-23-202002

Mary’s Minute

“Don't mistake activity with achievement.”

― John Wooden

In our current situation we have developed a new definition of activity and achievement.  For healthcare and other essential workers their level of activity is certainly both activity and achievement.  

Many of us are working from home and suddenly activity seems totally different than what it did a few months ago.  The contrast makes me reflect on a life that sometimes seems in the distant past.  

Just a few months ago, it seemed that everyone was busy.  We were busy at work, and when we are home we are busy with household chores and social activities.  Children were embedded in world of the generation of joiners, rushing from one activity to another.  Being busy with activities was not necessarily a bad thing, but this new normal makes the words of the famous coach John Wooden relevant, as we realize activity is not the equivalent of achievement.  

Coach Wooden was undoubtedly giving advice about sports, but I think his remark makes sense in all aspects of life.  In our jobs, being busy is not the same as being productive.  In our personal lives, having a full schedule of activities does not equate to personal satisfaction and happiness.  Of course, it can, and many of us long for the days when we can return to more activity.

I think staying busy is a great thing, but I just want to be sure that I remember that being busy is not alone enough to feel self-actualized.

We are now busy in different ways.  When we begin to return to our former busy lives with our jobs, trips, social commitments, community involvement, and much more, I believe we will be more self-ware of what is truly necessary and what is important for happiness.  Activity can certainly lead to achievement or success, but now more than ever we are cognizant that we need to make sure our actions are leading to the kind of achievement we desire whatever that may be.

                                                                       Stay safe and well!

                                                                                                Mary

4-17-2020

Mary’s Minute

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

                                                                ~ Dwight Eisenhower

I don’t think any of us could have imagined this exact scenario for the spring of 2020.  But we are ready, not because we had a plan, but because we have been planning. 

I think about my own career.  They did not teach us in administrative classes how to support a school community through a pandemic, but I feel I have been planning my entire career by practicing problem solving and communication.

I didn’t plan for my young adult children to be living on their own in our family house, taking care of a house and taking classes full-time, yet they have been preparing by building independence since they were toddlers.

I cannot speak from experience, but I would assume that hospitals and medical professionals prepare for many of the most challenging scenarios, but in the light of a pandemic, it is not the “plan” but their lifetime of planning that has made them heroes.

Teachers are champions of making plans.  It is not their plans but their planning that prepared them to care for their students virtually through this challenging time.

Seniors in high school and college began making plans for graduation.  Those plans went out the window, but their planning allowed them to be ready to deal with disappointment and use their energy to prepare for the next phase of their lives.

We cannot plan for every scenario life will throw at us, but we can spend our lives planning through honing skills of communication, problem solving, and collaboration, and striving to have a positive spirit in all we do.  I think we all are finding that this planning is serving us well.

                                                                         Stay safe and well!

                                                                                              Mary

4-3-2020

Mary’s Minute

“Brave is finding a new normal.”

                                                           ~ Anonymous

Almost five years ago right after my daughter, Zoe, was diagnosed with Lupus and trying to navigate her new life of a daily handful of pills, a life-long need to take blood thinners, the reality of drug side effects, testing her blood weekly, and much more, someone said to her that she would soon settle into her new normal.  The phrase stuck with her and she embraced the idea finding her new normal.  She was brave, and now lives her new normal with many of the conditions she faced then still present for her today. She does it with such positivity that it is easy for her and others to forget she even has a chronic illness.

Just a few months ago, we could have never predicted what our new normal would be.  Teachers were teaching in their classrooms.  Students were running care-free with dozens of classmates on the playground.  We were enjoying meals out with family and friends.  We were planning vacations.  We had a sense of security.  All of those things are gone, and we must be brave to be at peace with our new normal.  Although we know this will not last forever, the experience will change us forever. 

                                                                   Stay safe and well!

                                                                                       Mary

3-27-2020

Mary’s Minute

“Strangers are just friends waiting to happen”

                                                                   ~ Rod McKuen

A single interaction with a person you have never met can change everything.  For years growing up my siblings and I loved to hear the story of my mom and dad’s first date.  They met on a blind date on July 10, 1960.  They were strangers, but not for long. 

Each day our paths cross with strangers, and every so often one of those strangers can change everything. We can’t predict what stranger it will be. The romantic stories are perhaps the ones that stick with us, but it is true for friends and even acquaintances.  My best friend, Dixie, was a kindergarten teacher next to me my first year of teaching.  We were strangers, and she admitted years later that initially she didn’t really want to like me!  Now I think we both agree that we have changed each other’s lives in some way.

Over the last few months, people who were strangers to me have become my friends. 

Teachers often start the year with a room full of strangers in front of them.  Over the course of the school year, teachers are changed by their students and a teacher who was a stranger to students may have changed their lives.

During these days we are striving to avoid strangers, but in doing so I think it makes us more reflective on what chance interactions with strangers can mean to us and to where they can lead.  We will be grateful for the time when we have the chance to cross paths with strangers and the potential for amazing changes.

                                                         Stay safe and well!

                                                                  Mary

3-20-2020

Mary’s Minute

“I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.”

                                                                          ~ Anne Frank

I woke up this morning a little shook from a bad dream I was having, but also with a vivid memory of a conversation I had with myself in the dream.  In the dream (I don’t even remember the details) something bad was happening, and I consciously (at least as consciously I could in a dream-state) decided to change the negative outcome.  In my slumber, I asked myself if I was allowed to do that, and answered myself by saying, “It’s my dream, I can make it end however I want.”  I think that now more than ever we need to dreams, and we need to remember that we have the power to decide the endings because they are our dreams!

One of the greatest examples of seeing beauty in despair is Anne Frank.  I recently saw where someone compared our plight of being stuck in our homes for a few weeks to Anne Frank and her group’s struggle.  It sure was a way to put things in perspective!  Through her greatest challenges, Anne kept a positive attitude as is documented in her diary. 

We can do this!  Keep your dreams alive, and remember that they are your dreams, so you get to pick the outcome.  And from Anne Frank remember the power of positive thinking.

                                                                   Stay safe and well!

                                                                                     Mary

3-13-2020

Mary’s Minute

“Adversity introduces a man to himself.”

                                                                ~ Albert Einstein

This has been a tough week.  People in our country and world are very sick, the stock market is plunging, and we all have feeling of uncertainty and even fear!  I feel like in my many years in education I have been through some challenging times, but this situation is certainly at the top of the list. 

Obviously, I wish we were not dealing with all of this, but I also have to see the positive in the situation.  During tough times we see who people really are, and we see for ourselves what we are capable of doing. 

Sometimes we forget ourselves what we are able to accomplish, but in adverse situations when we are forced to spring into action, it is more evident.

We also can see the good in others.  I am thankful for how the Sheridan community has come together to do what is best for kids when we have been forced to close schools.  Our teachers have worked to provide quality learning, and our cafeteria staff has found a way to provide lunches for students. 

Indeed, tough times can bring out the best in people.

                                                 Stay safe and well!

                                                                      Mary

3-6-2020

Mary’s Minute

“Service is the rent we pay for being.”

                                                                   ~ Marian Wright Edelman

This week I had the pleasure of reading to a first grade class.  I chose the book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, the story of a woman who had three goals in life: to travel the world, to live by the sea, and to make the world more beautiful.  As my own children were growing up I always talked to them about our obligation to make the world a better place.  Miss Rumphius understood that obligation.  Whether we call it making the world more beautiful, making the world a better place, making our mark, or making a difference, I believe like Marian Wright Edelman that serving others is part of our duty in life. 

We all have the capacity to make the world better.  The fictional character Miss Rumphius planted lupine seeds to cover fields and hillsides with blue, purple, and rose-colored flowers.  Some people make their mark in big ways and are rewarded with Nobel prizes for their new discoveries and extraordinary acts.  But making a difference doesn’t need to make a big splash.  It can be a tiny ripple with lasting effects. 

Teachers make their mark by giving children skills and confidence to live productive lives.  Cafeteria workers nourish our students’ bodies and build their self-esteem with their cheerful dispositions.  Bus drivers get our students to school safely and are the first and last smile from school each day.  Custodians create a clean and nurturing environment.  Working with pride and kindness is a way to make the world a better place!

The first grade class I read to wrote a song about me, and one of the students drew an awesome picture of my dog, Doc. We can all make the world more beautiful – a better place, and this week a group of first graders’ kindness made its mark on me.

                                                                      Have a great week!

                                                                                    Mary