What Kindness Has To Do With Teaching.

The path to learn starts with an open mind, a kind heart, and a willing ear to listen.

Think about the last experience you walked through. What do you remember most? What emotion was attached to the learning? Every single experience teaches us something. The wisdom to learn builds focus as we recognize how each path we cross we either are taught or teach. The ripple effect lingers from a life to another far beyond a one-time impact.

Allan Rufus a philosopher shared, “Every day is a learning curve, but the secret for us all is to use that knowledge we have gained from life and use it wisely.”

Brene Brown also inspires us as teachers to look at what legacy we leave behind. The longevity of the lessons we share, when coupled with kindness extends beyond the current life events.

She shares, “Whatever you teach: you have the capacity to reach lives and your impact lasts longer than a fleeting moment. Lives are changed when we empathize, engage, and energize the minds of those who we teach.”

Learning is vulnerable. Consider how people lock down their hearts when they are fearful. Consider yourself, actually, when you are fearful of change. What do you do to hide from the growth? Blame, hide, minimize, deflect and ignore all come to mind from personal experience. Honesty and vulnerability are wonderful and scary at the same time.

Learning from long ago

If we stop and remember something to do with grade school, our mind might recall uncomfortable scenarios. For instance, I remember an emotion-filled experience. Physical Education class was my least favorite subject in any level of school. I dislike sweating. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I love fall and winter?

The memory comes in like a flood.

The bathroom stalls lined the girls bathroom adjacent to the shower stalls. Refusing to remove my clothes at school, I was penalized in my grades. My values were privacy so I didn’t care about any particular grade for P.E. Class. The popular girls, you know, the ones with the perfect hair, the boys gathered around, and the separateness they emitted from their being? Yeah, those girls.

Anyhow, one of the girls was probably the worst bully of them all. Mary Margret Ann Polly. (Look, I still have her name memorized). She approached me in the bathroom and said all the girls thought I was nasty and needed a shower or at least use deodorant. I remember putting my head down, and said “Ok” in a soft voice.

Shame enveloped me.

I didn’t have the bravery or the resilience to smack her with words.

Instead, I internalized a potent negative thought: I am worthless, everyone thinks I stink, and I am ugly. My young brain perceived rejection and allowed the thought to live long and hard in my mind. The Middle school bully taught me something that day, which I can now see as essential to my career as a counselor and educator.

My choice to be kind to the least of these (anyone who doesn’t fit my ideal view of humanity) and everyone in between has helped me connect on multiple levels.

Our influence

The long-term influence as individuals who lead sticks stronger than super-glue. Think of the energizer bunny and how he keeps going and going. You and I have the capacity to reach lives far beyond the simple lifetime we live.

The ripple effect lingers from one life to another.

How you carry yourself in the educational platforms: music teacher, other classrooms, leaders in the boardrooms, or in behavioral educational platforms, your impact leaves a legacy. The ripples of your words, behaviors, and attitudes read farther than the mere opening of your mouth. Lives transform from a single person who chooses to change their behaviors.

The angry man stops yelling at his wife, and she in turn stops isolating, and their children begin to see their parents smile, mingle in the same room, and maybe start laughing again. The chain reaction builds consistency across all who are impacted.

There is so much we all can share to enrich each other’s lives if only we stop to recognize the wisdom within us, the amazing gifts in endless supply ~Wahe Guru.

Education lasts longer when you have the ability to connect to the heart of the student. Music instructors, domestic violence educators, high school teachers, university professors, and consultants for businesses provide solid connections to build strength and potential in each client or student who comes our way.

As I look back at the stories of my life, I realize how blessed I am to have walked the hard lines of life. The experiences taught me to appreciate the pain others feel. My life is richer, my empathy is stronger, and my work ethic is focused. We learn, we live, we share, and we grow what we experience.

Keep the growth and legacy full of a kindness and a simple awareness around you. As you extend kindness, you’ll see the gift of learning expand beyond the simple and into the future. Trust the process. Choose to be kind.

~Just a thought by Pamela

Thank you for pausing and reading.

About Me: Pamela J. Nikodem, MS immersed herself in studies surrounding relationships, domestic violence, and trauma. Her focus is to guide men and women into a place of peaceful assertiveness. ©2020