No Battle Plan Outlasts Contact with the Enemy? Well Maybe Some (211)

Highlight your strengths. Listen to your heart. Trust your instincts.

When plans meet the real world, the real world will not yield to your plan; you much adapt to the circumstances- the fluid, rapids of experience. These situations at hand. These disruptions and detours. 

If you get twisted up tight in well-laid plans, if you focus too much on the details- you lock into place. Your tires spin. You can't argue with flow. Water, air, lava, you name it. If it flows, it will groove and it will forge ahead with or without your approval.

As educators, this is a daily occurrence. Every minute of the work day is about problem-solving, unlocking the brakes, paddling with the current. We are not a profession of stagnancy, but one of shuffling, swiveling and revitalizing.

Hard times ahead. Battle plans adjusting. Fortifications crumbled. We no longer have definitive troop coordinates. We no longer have tanks to knock down the walls. For they have been dismantled already. What we have is providence and planning. Not in  permanent ink but in #2, full eraser and outlook open.

We as teachers can outlast contact with the enemy; uncertainty, changing routines, altering expectations. We can outlast because we have the endurance. We can outlast because we listen with intent, we invent, we observe, We collaborate. 

We propose and arrange. We layout and strategize. We see patterns, We have tactics and methods- well tested. We mobilize and conquer those obstacles that lie in our path. We unite in one goal- education of our children. We unite with one intention- growth. We unite in one grace- believe in our students, hear them, and make sure we do what is best for them.

We also unit in a common wisdom. Take care of yourself first- then and only then can you prepare for battle. Then and only then can you be your best for them. strength and resiliency comes from a healthy mind and outlook. A healthy body and spirit. 

Balance is our defense. Collaboration is our battle plan. Expect setbacks, defeats. But prepare for the extended skirmish. This school year is going to be full of advancements and withdrawals. Deep breath, envision the troop movement, the fortification and enter. It's going to take all of your resiliency. All of your patience. All of your positivity and forethought.

Advance.