It is easy to focus on what we can’t do right now in this age of Covid.
In fact, that list has probably become so overwhelming that it has pushed us all into a place of emotional and physical exhaustion.
Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or a student, we are all experiencing this at some level. Look around you, so many people right now are in a state of Covid fatigue and have started living their lives like we are not currently in a pandemic. This makes doing the right thing even that much more challenging. We are tired of not doing all the things that we are accustomed to, we are tired of going against everything that human nature tells us is normal and necessary for our emotional survival. We are all just tired.
So what do we do? How do we get out of this deep, dark, and what seems like a never ending tunnel of “I can’t.” Well, we focus on what we CAN do.
It takes a lot of work and thinking outside of the box, innovating, being creative, but we have to be willing to put the work in to make it happen.
At Indi-ED we put the work in each and every day at school and behind the scenes. However, one way we focus on this each and every morning is by writing down what we are grateful for. This takes practice and some days are harder than others to list what we appreciate about what we have, who we are surrounded by, and the things we get to do. Never has there been a time more important than the times we are living in now to do this. Especially because when you are being grateful you can’t be angry or sad. It is physically not possible.
I know this sounds easier said than done because a lot of us may feel entangled by the weeds of what we can’t do, by anger, and/or disappointment. So we all have to plant seeds in our mind, the minds of our friends, family, and possibly even in the minds of strangers. So in addition to writing down what we are grateful for, we have to fill each other’s cup daily.
Verbally communicate to those around you when they do something you are grateful for or that you are proud of them for. As teachers we are incredibly mindful of how powerful this is and we focus on doing this each and every day with our students. Write a letter to let someone know how they have lifted you up or how you admire them. One of our cohorts has incorporated this into their writing lessons in this unit.
The other thing we can all do is to look at these times as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves, our businesses, how we manage our time, what we do to relax, or to have fun. Don’t hesitate to ask someone else for help in doing that. For example, we reached out to Jenn & Doug Cash with Tocobaga Disc Golf Club. We were in search of a new experience for our kids where they could enjoy the outdoors and safely participate in a fun interactive sport that they may want to continue to do with their family and friends even after a month of lessons.
Not only did Jenn & Doug enthusiastically jump at the opportunity to help us out, but they also connected this experience to the content we are currently covering and taught us about the Tocobaga tribe who used to live in the area that we are currently playing disc golf in. On an average day this may seem nice, but today this is an incredible gift that they have given our kids. The gift of feeling connected, having fun, focusing on the positive and what we CAN do, and learning something new. So for that we are forever grateful to Jenn, Doug, and to the Tocobaga Disc Golf Club.
