Just a Teacher / A Teacher!
Sometimes, gold lands in our lap! Last week, I wrote about how all jobs can be "weird and cool" if we're willing to look deep enough. My main point was that all jobs matter, and we can each find meaning in our work if we're willing to focus on the good, not dwell on the bad.
I received about 10 e-mails about this post, but for reasons you're about to see, two stood out to me. The first included the following excerpt: "There's nothing weird and cool about my job. I'm just a teacher." Ouch! This is really sad. This person can't introspectively look at their job and find the meaning, the blessing, the weird, and the cool.
Here's an excerpt from the second e-mail: "I'm a teacher, and so much about my job is weird and cool!" This person proceeded to name what makes their job "weird and cool.":
Getting to hang out with teenagers who have endless energy.
The childlike wonder her students have when looking at the world.
Being able to walk alongside young people during some of their most formative moments.
Watching kids form their dreams, then encouraging them to pursue them.
Forming relationships that have the possibility of lasting for years/decades.
Getting a fresh group of kids each year, guaranteeing it never gets monotonous.
Having summers off, which provides an opportunity for lots of travel.
Going to sporting events and other activities to cheer on her kids.
"I'm just a teacher" to "I'm a teacher!" Can you imagine how different the day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month lives of these two individuals are? One is looking through the glass of optimism and joy, while the other sees their work world through misery and pessimism.
I hope that first teacher can develop a new perspective.....or seek out a new job. They deserve far more than to feel this way.....and those students deserve better, too.
That second person? I want to hook up an IV and have her energy and passion injected right into my bloodstream. I couldn't love her perspective more. Our perspective matters so much. If we view our work through the lens of misery, we're most definitely going to find it. But if we view our work through the lens of meaning, joy, weird, and cool, we'll most likely find that, too!
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