Success and Gifts

Another day that I did not go into school. I mopped and waxed my floors, instead. An extension of the cleaning that started a week ago just before I went to the mountain for my solo spiritual retreat.

Oh, don't think I am bragging about that though (not going to school), No, that is one place I really wanted to be this week, taking all of my boxes of books, materials, supplies, games, files, etc... unloading them into my new classroom, deciding how I want my classroom to look, then rearranging all those things in their proper places.

All the while, imagining the reading, math, and writing lessons I would teach, the students who would come to me with great hope in their eyes that they would learn how to read better, or pass the end of year test, or understand multiplication better... better than last year... that this year they would try harder, that this year they'd feel smarter.

I know it's the hope of every student who ever struggled with these core subjects, but probably moreso with reading than any other. It is also my hope. Reading above the others, reading first, ... reading because without it, what can you come to learn and understand for yourself without hearing of it from another, and without experiencing it first hand?

With books, and now the internet, you have a fairly unlimited myriad of sources to find out just about anything you want about China, or any place, anything, in any time period. You can read books or articles or newstories written by many different authors, giving you many viewpoints, from those who lived there to those who are only visitors, from wealthy citizens to the common workers, from those involved in politics, to those involved in the religious culture of the country... You can read it and be there today, or be there a thousand years ago. With a book, you can read it when your interest is high, put it away, and pick it up when it interests you again (or check it out of the library). With the internet, it's a keyboard button away. Not so easy to do with a TV.

If there is no one around, I can find out for myself by reading about it. If other folks don't know the answers to my questions, I can find out for myself. Maybe I'm interested in something that no one in my circle of friends and family is interested in... so what? Go read about it and find out for myself.

I know, I'm not revealing any news here.  Everyone at J-land, I feel safe in saying, loves to read, and readers often find themselves writing in response to life, and in response to what they have read.

Speaking of which, I am reading a great book to start off the school year. I had seen it laying on my Asst. Principal's desk earlier this week, made a comment about it, and the next thing I know I'm taking it home (I didn't lift it, it was loaned to me!).

It's called Leading with Soul, An Uncommon Journey of Spirit. I'm finding the parable-like story, about an executive of a large corporation who suffers from burn-out and who seeks help from a very wise woman, provides me with illumination for my own journey as a teacher. I haven't finished the book yet, but it seems that the same leadership qualities needed for successful business executives are the same as for teachers, no matter how much he or she is paid, these days.

When I say successful, I'm not referring to financial gains for the company or for the business executive. Success in this book is measured by how many people are empowered as a result of using the gifts we are given, and the gifts that we give to others.

And when I use the word gift, I am not referring to flowers, chocolates, and candles, or even trips to the spa, though these are perfectly fun to give and receive. Gifts like authorship, love, power, and significance are the keys, say the authors Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal, to igniting the passion in one's life, and as a result, in the organization in which one works.

Ah, that word passion again!!

It's often the missing ingredient in many workplaces, and I'm thinking that many folks don't expect to find it in their workplaces. I'm beginning to believe that one can find a passion for one's work, if not one's job, when one recognizes the value of service. I think we should not be ashamed if we find ourselves serving another.

Serving is not a menial labor. Certainly, when it comes to our job, we should be paid for our service. Yet, there are times in the course of the day when we would do ourselves a great service by giving something of our time, our attention, our appreciation, and our love to another.

I know, not allowed at work. Too soft. Not professional. I'm not talking about the kind of love and giving that leads to sexual harassment charges, either.

One must remember that serving is what our Lord Jesus Christ did. It's what he came to teach us how to do. To love one another is to serve one another. He worked. He was a carpenter, and a good one. Yet he lived in service to others. Certainly, he had the divine agenda on his mind during his last three years, but in the end, serving the Lord was his divine agenda (as well as saving mankind).

I know there are those who will scorn this philosophy/belief, especially in regard to the workplace, and others will jeer at the suggestive nature of serving and giving, but there is something to be said for making others feel capable, important, powerful and loved in their own lives.

Teachers do that with students. Research supports that students learn when they feel important, skillful, when they have choices (power), and are loved.

Why does it have to stop at the classroom door? Why can't it follow them into the workplace? Why do the rules often change at work? Wouldn't people feel better about themselves, and when they do, wouldn't they get more work done? More importantly, wouldn't they improve upon the quality of their work, in their relationships, their attitude, and their health?

What do you think?