Daring Greatly!
The most influential quote by Teddy Roosevelt for me is the following:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again… who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
Yes, go ahead…read it again…and again…and again!
Print it onto a poster. Hang on a wall.
Put it on your desk in a picture frame.
Put it in your lesson plans every.single.day!
It is powerful! And inspiring!
Teacher are in the arena not only during school hours, but also after school hours.
How can we manage this and not feel like we are a target or like we are going into battle or part of a public “spectacle”?
Parents can reach us at any time of day via technology.
Endless emails invade our privacy every second of the day.
We can never get away from the demands and pressures of teaching!
In our modern society, especially after the advent of the internet and social media, it has become extremely prevalent for all of us to be the recipient of open criticism.
No wonder no one feels like they are ever enough. No wonder so many people hide behind the modern technology screen like the Wizard behind the curtain in the land of Oz.
No one wants to be vulnerable to the hurt of judgment, criticism or shame from others. Ouch!
We just don’t want to be vulnerable and feel like a failure!
So, we play small or become invisible or armor up and put on many layers of protection like Shrek and lash out at everyone who comes into our “swamp”.
Well, here’s the deal…if our feet are on the ground, and we are in the game, and we are bringing our A game, then, we are in the arena and we are daring greatly!
We don’t have to win awards, have a million followers of social media, be #1 or in the top 10 or have a six figure paying job or a 10,000 sq ft home on a lake or have a best-selling book or … whatever we use to define success and our worth in this world.
We can set boundaries. We can say “no”. We don’t have to be perfect.
We don’t have to do everything. We don’t have to be everything to everyone.
We’re here. We are doing the best we can. We are in the arena. We are daring greatly.
So all that counts and every teacher matters!
Let’s try to put all of our perceived problems, challenges, shortcomings, demands, failures, etc. into perspective and live a wholehearted life of joy and peace!
As Brené Brown says, it doesn’t matter who are in the cheap seats taunting us or judging us or hurling accusations or telling us how to do our job!
We are teachers. We are in the arena. We are daring greatly, and we make a difference!
We are enough. We are doing enough. We don’t have to be perfect.
Check out the stories of some teachers on the podcast Teacher Tales who have been daring greatly! And be sure to share with other teachers for inspiration, but also those not in education so they can see what it is really like being in the teaching arena!
If you know of a teacher who is in the arena and daring greatly every day, send me and email and nominate them to be a guest on the podcast.
Email: thespiritofteaching@gmail.com
Image credit:
“Arena de Nimes” by Wolfgang Staudt is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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