For a couple of years, we've been reciting a "morning reminder" about being "kind and respectful" each day after the pledge in my school. I admit I "lift" those lines multiple times each day as I "scold" students who are locking bathroom stalls or water painting on the bathroom walls. I use those lines as a reminder to control one's excitement when the excited hordes pass my room on their way to lunch or recess. I think of the message as I choose words to convince reluctant readers to read or hesitant writers to write.
This morning (perhaps because a tractor trailer cut me off and threatened to send me off the highway or perhaps because I witnessed a few particularly unkind interactions this week) I was thinking about the need for ALL of us with beating and caring hearts (administrators, teachers, para-professionals, students, doctors, dental hygienists, hairdressers, police, salespersons, drivers, parking lot attendants, long haul drivers .....) to keep not just the words but also actions associated with kindness and respectfulness near our hearts as we go about our daily interactions. We never know the challenges/demons/battles/stress/conflicts/problems/needs that others are facing at that moment. We can never imagine who is care-giving and who has not slept because they worked a second shift. We do know that our words/actions/ decisions/ideas/sensitivity/acts of kindness/ability to hold our tongues can make a difference in someone's life
Truth be told, my own life has been pretty stressful in the past few years. Truth be told, most everyone I know have had stress. On those tough days, when the bills to be paid and papers to be graded pile up toward the skies, I sometimes focus too much on my needs and forget to think about others! I suspect that tractor trailer driver this morning had thoughts on his mind that kept him from thinking about little me in my tiny Mazda 3. I suspect we are not alone.
Perhaps that tractor trailer and those unkind interactions from my friends/colleagues/acquaintances were "reminders" to me and perhaps to you of the Golden Rule: DO unto others as you would have others do unto you."
Truth be told, my own life has been pretty stressful in the past few years. Truth be told, most everyone I know have had stress. On those tough days, when the bills to be paid and papers to be graded pile up toward the skies, I sometimes focus too much on my needs and forget to think about others! I suspect that tractor trailer driver this morning had thoughts on his mind that kept him from thinking about little me in my tiny Mazda 3. I suspect we are not alone.
Perhaps that tractor trailer and those unkind interactions from my friends/colleagues/acquaintances were "reminders" to me and perhaps to you of the Golden Rule: DO unto others as you would have others do unto you."
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