Time to Show Up

What if we “showed up”?

Let’s take a moment and visualize ourselves as the captain of a ship. We are entrusted with the safety of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives.

When the Titanic sank a headline from the Washington Post read, “One Thousand Eight Hundred Souls Lost.” People were counted by their soul. Each life, or soul, aboard the ship matters.

You, as the captain need to remain cool, calm, and collected; especially if a storm hits. You need to be able to focus on the task of steering the ship, protecting the passengers, and making it to safe harbor.

What if you are the captain of your ship and you freak out when a storm hits? You panic that the waves are too high. You worry you can’t see the iceberg to your left. You are in a frenzy that you just can’t right the course and all the passengers, every soul on-board, will go down with the ship.

As the captain you set the tone for your ship. If you fear the storm, your passengers will too.

What if you are the captain of your ship and you remain calm when the storm hits? You gather your crew, you give them focused instruction, and you send them to a specific and live-saving task. You stand ready at the helm of your ship. You take a deep breath. You steady your hand. You focus your eyes straight ahead. You steer your ship to safety.

As a calm captain you now have set the tone that you can handle any situation and there is no need to worry. All will be saved.

I ask again, what if you showed up for your students?

What if you were calm in the classroom? Even when someone is causing a disturbance. Even when there is an unexpected fire drill. Even when you just don’t think you can.

Teaching your students to be mindful begins with you being mindful. Teaching your students to notice, pay attention, and be present starts with you. You noticing, you paying attention, and you being mindfully present.

Let’s show up for our students. Let’s practice mindfulness.

I challenge you to practice being mindful for ONE MINUTE each morning, before your students arrive. Try it for one week and take notes on what you feel and notice within yourself. Note if you are able to later in the day recall your mindful minute and utilize the skill during a rather trying time in class.

Before we can help our students, we must help ourselves.