"Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes."
Alexandre Dumas, père, 1802 - 1870
On the last day of the Tour de France, it is fitting that quotes come to me from a French writer. That is no coincidence if you believe like I in no such thing as an accident. But as I am want to discover more times than not, my mind seems to take a different tack than others.
The first quote hit me today in a funny way and seemed to be calling out and emphasizing some topics I have been thinking about. History is full of people that at one time in their life are a hero and they become a goat at another time. How many can you think about that led the charge and became a hero, only later to be beheaded for an event under a new leadership.
I am not looking forward to the start of school this year. Truth be told, starts are difficult for me in good times. This start is the worse so far. Forget the difficulties of an unpopular new schedule coupled with the constraints of budget problems in the district, state, and country. All that is complicated with the current tone of test scores guiding education instead of gaining knowledge. In our personal lives we have a college graduate looking for a job, a son preparing to be deployed overseas, another son leaving home to college 12 hours away and a daughter entering her last two years of high school. The pulls and tugs are coming in many directions and the same time. In no way am I pleading for sympathy, I am trying to lay out the mindset we are in and many others are in also. Makes for interesting times.
But school, or any work place, that is experiencing change like we are reminds me of a cage fighting ring just before the fight begins. As one of the older staff members, I feel sometimes like the diplomat from the previous administration that the new regime is stuck with. Sometimes it feels like I am from three administrations ago. New date, new profile, hopefully same old dude. That is what the first quote spoke to me. So much so that I stopped reading and ignored the following quote. I was cutting and pasting the first quote when I read the next one and the 2 x 4 hit me between the eyes.
I hope I have the strength and courage to pick myself off the rocks.
1 comment:
I love the Dumas quote! It's so true! If anyone can have the courage to get off the rocks, you can!
(And thanks for the eggs and veggies... and jam... and salsa!!)
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