This Too: A Focus on Focus

If you read this blog you know that I tend to appreciate clichés.  “This too shall pass” is one of my favorites.  A friend touched base with me yesterday to encourage and support my reflective writing practice.  He said, “I love your focus during this busy time!”  He’s a public school administrator too, so he gets that there’s a bit going on right now.  I told him that focus is HOW I focus.  It is.  Spending about a half an hour each day to reflect and process is one of the primary things that keeps sharp.

Before I was holistically committed to continuous reflective development I had some decent ideas, and I even implemented some of them, but I didn’t keep on my toes nearly as well as I do with critical reflection, targeted analysis, and an ongoing/intentional process including genuine consideration and connected adaptation.

So, I focus during slow times and I focus during busy times.  The focus I have on continuous learning and growth is integrated in to the rest my life.  It makes no difference what else is on my plate.  Do you eat when you’re busy?  Do you read the paper?  Do you take your dog for a walk?  Do you make time to play with your kids?  Focusing on my personal growth and the communication of my process is just  something I do.  Besides, I have such a long way to go that can afford a break in the learning action!

More to the point of this post, this too shall pass.  This fall I begin my ninth year in public education.  If you do some quick math you’ll realize that that’s almost a decade…almost a decade of planning, prepping, and stirring over the start of new school years.

Educators are really excited right now.  We’re excited, we’re nervous, we’re hopeful, and some of us are even a bit jittery.  It’s kind of tough to relax, it’s sort of difficult to sleep, and the anticipation is palpable.  It’s like this every year.  Every year for almost a decade I’ve spent a couple of weeks toward the end of August wondering what i’s I forgot to dot and what t’s I forgot to cross.  Then, every year I find out that I’ve done a pretty good job of getting ready for what it is I worry so much about getting ready for…teaching the students I’m so excited to teach!

Actually, we’re all doing a great job!  I’m so impressed with the way my colleagues are pouring every ounce of their energy into making sure that this year is going to start off strong and flow forward with positive progress!  I’m extremely proud of my community of partners for the efforts they’ve been making over the last few weeks.  We’re all a bit heightened, but we should all remember that this happens every year.  We are ready, and in just two days, our students are going to be starting their best school year ever!

So keep breathing, keep eating, keep reading the paper and walking your dog.  Keep writing a reflective blog if that’s what you do.  Do the things that make you who you are, and as a result…that’s exactly who you’ll continue to be, which is the best thing for you you and for those you serve.  Make focus your focus, and don’t blink, because before you know it, this week will have turned into next week…and then we won’t be quite so jittery.  This too shall pass.

Live.  Learn.  Lead.

Dream Big.  Work Hard.  Be Well.