Divinity
Decision:
Interact with people--my team, friends, students, teachers--being mindful that the divine is in every person. No matter how frustrating a person's behavior, it has a reason and that person believes in what he or she is doing.
This sounds cheesy. It kind of is cheesy. But working with adolescents is so, so frustrating. Today was the first time that I have ever really wanted to punch someone, and I had to leave a student so that I wouldn't say or do anything I'd regret. She apologized later, but in the moment I couldn't think past how angry I was with her behavior. She was skipping class, screaming in the hallway, completely ignoring everything I said, allowing others to interrupt our conversation as I was trying to talk with her about what was going on that led her to behave in a completely inappropriate way for a fourteen-year-old (yes, 14 and in the seventh grade).
But then I played with a kindergartner younger sister of a boy on the basketball team while the brother was at practice. And as the basketball team was leaving practice, I told one of my students who's on the team, "Have a good night."
He seemed caught off guard. "What?"
"Have a good night."
"Oh, you too." Pause. "Thanks. Thanks for everything."
That kid makes me feel warm and fuzzy. He's the same boy that broke up the fight yesterday, the kid that probably is the reason I didn't get punched. I don't even work with him much, just answer questions once in a while in math class. He's awesome.
So today, I'm thankful for Tori and Anthony, who made this whole day worth it.
Interact with people--my team, friends, students, teachers--being mindful that the divine is in every person. No matter how frustrating a person's behavior, it has a reason and that person believes in what he or she is doing.
This sounds cheesy. It kind of is cheesy. But working with adolescents is so, so frustrating. Today was the first time that I have ever really wanted to punch someone, and I had to leave a student so that I wouldn't say or do anything I'd regret. She apologized later, but in the moment I couldn't think past how angry I was with her behavior. She was skipping class, screaming in the hallway, completely ignoring everything I said, allowing others to interrupt our conversation as I was trying to talk with her about what was going on that led her to behave in a completely inappropriate way for a fourteen-year-old (yes, 14 and in the seventh grade).
But then I played with a kindergartner younger sister of a boy on the basketball team while the brother was at practice. And as the basketball team was leaving practice, I told one of my students who's on the team, "Have a good night."
He seemed caught off guard. "What?"
"Have a good night."
"Oh, you too." Pause. "Thanks. Thanks for everything."
That kid makes me feel warm and fuzzy. He's the same boy that broke up the fight yesterday, the kid that probably is the reason I didn't get punched. I don't even work with him much, just answer questions once in a while in math class. He's awesome.
So today, I'm thankful for Tori and Anthony, who made this whole day worth it.