Monday Pep Talks #1: Grace

I’ve seen this quote shared before with an emphasis placed on “do better” paired with a call to action to stop living ignorantly. While I definitely think you can extract that meaning or motivation from it, today I see something different in what these words hold.

Grace.

“I did then what I knew how to do.”

Self-compassion. Understanding. And again, grace.

Many of you are coming off of spring break, jumping into a world of chaos this morning. Others are either starting break or desperately anticipating it.

Sadly, a constant in many (most) teachers’ lives is a nagging feeling of guilt.

Guilt that you enjoyed yourself too much on break and didn’t do any work.

Guilt that you didn’t spend enough time with family.

Guilt that you can’t be everything to everyone.

And the one that most affected me: a nagging, oppressive, constant guilt that rears it’s ugly head right when you get a second to breathe on a vacation, shaming you over past teaching decisions you’ve made or placing doubt in your mind over how you’ve handled situations. The tape recorder starts and you can’t seem to shut it off.

Did I make the right choice? Will a mean parent email await me after break? Have I covered all I need to cover? Should I have reached out more to ________’s parents to try to find out what’s going on with her? Am I doing a good job? Am I enough…I don’t think I’m enough. And so it continues.

When given the power, these thoughts can ruin our break and even disrupt our sense of self. Often we are so used to living anxiously that we search for the tiger in the room when it gets quiet.

What might happen if we challenge those thoughts? If we stop the tape recorder and remind ourselves of this: “I did then what I knew how to do.” Remind ourselves that we always seek to do what’s best for students; it’s not in our character to act otherwise. Finally, remember that we all deserve to have peace.

Erin