It won't take but a moment

 "Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments" Rose Kennedy 

Ask anyone and they will say that I am great at calling the glass half empty. If pessimism was an Olympic sport, I would have been a gold medal winner five times over. Why? Well, because I fundamentally believe that humans are terrible, society is worse and life as we know it is always out to get us. I'm great at sarcasm, I excel at insults and criticizing stuff is like my main hobby. Put that way, I honestly believe that these do not sound like the best characteristics for a person in charge of educating the minds of impressionable teenagers. 

I would like to point out that I do have the capacity for optimism, and definitely experience moments of it throughout every day. However, when your default setting is to always look at the glass half empty, these moments can quite easily be forgotten. Therefore, in the past two weeks it has been my personal goal, to recognize and celebrate these small moments of optimism and joy. To acknowledge them, and their worth and to bask in their light for as long as I possibly can. And although these moments, and their joy, were eventually replaced by more pessimism, they did leave a lasting impression. I picked three of them to share with you today: 

A week and a half ago I was teaching my mentor class, and I asked them to open the windows. They protested, since they are little whiny babies who insist that my classroom has the temperature of the Northpole (which it does not.. I checked.. it's definitely a few degrees above freezing!) Anyway, as I tried to explain that the windows had to be open because I was, in fact, rather hot, one of my students replied 'but that's because you are hot Rianne.' A silence descended upon the classroom as his words hit his fellow classmates who, ofcourse, erupted into rapturous laughter. All the while this twelve year old boy grew beet red as he realized what he had said. And in that moment, as I was preparing a comment to ease his embarassment a bit, his eyes changed, his colour receded a little and he loudly proclaimed 'What? I'm just giving her a compliment' as he threw me a cheeky smile. I told him that I would gladly accept the compliment and we then quickly moved on. The entire exchange took three minutes at best, but left a lasting impression. Not only because of the compliment (I will take what I can get people :P) but also because of the sheer self confidence of this twelve year old kid in a potentially embarassing situation. The cheek, the social grace, the bravery of owning this moment instead of balking at it, it's moments like this that always make me realize how cool teenagers are and it made me feel fortunate for having the opportunity to teach them. 

This Monday I gave a rather impressing (if I say so myself) lecture to my third years, about the importance of actually studying for a test. A surprising topic I know! You would imagine that after three years of high school they would have sorta maybe gotten that message. But alas... kids are nothing if not stubborn. Anyway, after my lecture and the subsequent lesson I sent the students out and while I was tidying my desk one of them approached me. "Can I give you a hug Rianne?" she asked as she already opened her arms, I obviously accepted (who doesn't need more hugs in their life?!) and then asked whether she needed one or thought I did. "No, I just wanted to give you a hug." she replied before strapping on her backpack and wishing me a good afternoon. A hug for no other reason than the fact that she wanted to give one. And a great one it was! I carried it with me all day, a smile on my face every time I thought of it. 

Finally, today I was teaching my third years again (I see them an insane amount of hours I swear!) and I gave them a simple assignment: They had to have a short group discussion about what they would do if they would live in a secret beach community. An introduction assignment to the aptly named novel 'The Beach'. The moment I said 'start' these kids were off, spending a total of ten minutes debating the merits of cannibalism, the use of guns on the island to protect the anonimity of the community and whether or not they could do unspeakable things to fish to *ahem* satisfy any ... carnal needs. I spent ten whole minutes sitting back and watching them work. Talking in the language that I love, doing the assignment I set out for them with immense enthusiasm, and simply engaging with each other in a manner that was so fun and so sweet, it almost brought tears to my eyes. And in that moment, they (and my job) were absolutely perfect. 

If you are anything like me it is easy to get lost in a sea of pessimism. And to be fair, as a teacher you don't even have to be a pessimist at heart to eventually succumb to being pessimistic. It kinda comes with the territory. Being more mindful of these small moments of optimism and joy does not erase the burdens of teaching. It does not suddenly make the world perfect or make people suck less than they did before. It does however help you see why, despite all the misery, teaching is worth doing. It reminds you of the reason you started, and it helps you get through the endless amounts of paperwork, meetings and other terrible activities linked to being a teacher. 

So, my advice to you is to focus on those moments. For it's all of these moments together that create an unbreakable thread that weaves its way through your life and your career, reminding you of the beauty of what you get to do every single day.