Van, Thanks for the wonderful quote! I recently transitioned from business into teaching also, and could not agree with you more. There's nothing better than challenging a class to learn something.
Peter Kindle - 49 in 3 days and still starting over. Adjunct Instructor University of Houston-Clear Lake [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Van Funderburk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 7:03 AM Subject: Re: Random Thought: On Fire or Burnt out > I appreciated your e-mail. I just returned to the classroom after 20 > years in the Mental Health Field. Retirement was killing me. Being back > on the University campus has given me a new lease on life. I can hardly > wait to get up each morning. I'll be 70 in April. One of my friends > gave me a bookmark which stated "It is never too late to be what you > might have been.- George Eliot." > > Van Funderburk > Christian Brothers University > Memphis, Tennessee > > Louis_Schmier wrote: > > > Good morning. Had a great walk this morning even it was in the > >mid-20s. After walking the grinding Himalayan hills of San Mateo, six > >miles on the flatlands of South Georgia is a breeze. > > > > Talking about grinds and breezes, I passed a colleague from > >another department as I bounded two steps at a time up the stairs on the > >way to class Monday. "Oh, well, the grind starts," he unhappily moaned > >he slowly labored up the stairs, one trudging step at a time, with an > >arthritic spirit. This is on the first day of class! > > > > My colleague is much younger than I am. He has been at what he > >calls "this teaching game" for almost four decades less than I have. You > >would think our attitudes would be reversed. You'd think after forty > >years in the classroom--counting my days as a TA--it would be me who has > >burned up all my fuel, that it would be my flame that's losing its blaze, > >and that it would be me who should be a burnt out cinder. > > > > My colleague and I have talked on and off over the past year. He > >often reminds me of a photographer in a darkroom developing negatives. > >The real difference between my colleague and myself is not knowledge or > >talent or potential or longevity. The real difference is that eleven > >years ago I stopped being like him. Up until that time, like him, I felt > >more like a working stiff than a missionary. I hadn't gazed carefully at > >the students in the classroom. I had assumed that I had the whole picture > >at first glance. I didn't take for a closer and slower look at the details > >because I felt I had no need to so. I talked of individual students and > >treated them as carbon copies. What I didn't realize is that I took my > >quick and self-serving presumptions and preconceptions and made them into > >lasting, universal truths. At that fateful October, 1991, moment, I > >learned that I don't have to believe my thoughts. And, as I slowly > >challenged my assumptions, I broke the enslaving spell. I slowly--and > >painfully--broke the spell my thoughts had over me and I learned two > >things. I learned that there's no such person as a happy slave. And, I > >learned that thoughts--any thoughts--have no power other than which I give > >them. > > > > There is a Zen saying: To a lover a beautiful woman is a delight; > >to a monk she is a distraction; to a mosquito she is a meal. As these > >words tell, the real difference now between my colleague and myself is the > >filter through which we each look at what we're doing, what we expect to > >get from what we're doing, and what we expect others to receive from what > >we doing. We each teach in two different worlds. The world we each > >choose to experience and the world we each choose to live in is precisely > >the world where each of us is. Where he sees little hope, I see a world > >filled with beauty and possibility. Where he sees little to discover, I > >see an adventure on which I see how much more there is to discover. > >Where he is discouraged, I am encouraged and excited. He doesn't know how > >not to be bored with teaching; I don't know how to be bored. Where he > >mumbles a resigned "why me," I proclaim an enthusiastic "why not me." He > >thinks in the next hour he'll be in the same place still wandering > >aimlessly. I believe in the next hour I will be in an entirely different > >place full of vitality. Where he sees lethargy and stagnation, I see > >shimmering kinetic energy, nuances of movement and change. Where he finds > >excuses, I find a way. He doesn't see a lot in his lot; I see a priceless > >treasure I have been given to live, to experience, and to share. He is in > >a fog of quiet despair and frustration--maybe even anger--because things > >are not working out as he planned. I've learned to live the life that's > >waiting for me, to have what Longfellow called "a heart for any fate." > >He's waiting for someone or something to keep his flame from flickering. > >I believe I have the potential to be an instrument of the highest good for > >each student and to be a literal miracle worker. > > > > I'm not sure what his measure of success may be. I do know that I > >measure my success by the fact that I am doing what I love and love what I > >am doing. By that measure, he's is living in a conditional, wistful, > >yearning "if only" world. He doesn't want to know that. So, he blames > >students, administrators, and politicians for his plight. I have > >discovered the hard way that wanting people and circumstance to be perfect > >is one of the worst forms of self-abuse. It's a form of substance abuse > >that abuses the substance of our own existence so that we are in motion > >without movement or direction developing little more than a both a mental > >and emotional sclerosis that hardens the mind and attitude and spirit. > > > > Somewhere I read that Abe Lincoln said, "A person is generally > >about as happy as he's willing to be." It's our choice to be enthusiastic > >until it positively thrills us or be depressed until it negatively deadens > >us. Listening to wise ole Abe, my colleague and I can generally be on > >fire or burnt out as we each are willing to be. And the truth is, what we > >decide to be radiates out from us to influence, to warm or chill, all > >around us. > > > > > >Make it a good day. > > > > --Louis-- > > > > > >Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com > >Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html > >Valdosta State University > >Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /~\ /\ /\ > >(229-333-5947) /^\ / \ / /~ \ /~\__/\ > > / \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \ > > /\/\-/ /^\___\______\_______/__/_______/^\ > > -_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ > > _ _ / don't practice on mole hills" -\____ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
