Living Life Fully’s Daily Pick-Me-Up

I have about 140 students divided between five classes at school.  If you think that means that I’m not able to give the individual attention to each student that I could or should be giving, well, you’re right.  With that many students I’m able to take care of all the basic work such as preparing classes and grading all of their work–if I’m lucky.  So I have to make an extra effort to give the extra encouragement that I know most people need.

I make it a point to give extra encouragement to one or two students a day, since I know I can’t make one-on-one contact with them all.  I try to rotate it, too, so that in the course of a month or so I hit almost everyone.  And then I start again.  The encouragement doesn’t always have the results that I wish it would, but I don’t let my unfulfilled expectations keep me from trying again the next day, and the next.  After all, the encouragement is free for me to give, and the potential benefits from it are amazing.

There are other things that we can do on that sort of level, too.  For example, we can read one or two chapters of a good self-help book each day to bring ourselves up and make ourselves feel better.  We can read one or two pages or chapters of books focused on our professions to help us to function better and make our jobs easier.  We can throw one or two dollars into a big bottle to someday have a very special night out or even a very cool vacation.  We can walk one or two miles a day to improve our health, or we can even run the same distance.

Most things in life don’t take a huge investment in order for us to reach success.  Most things take simply dedication and consistency.  I may not be the best teacher my students ever have had, or the most memorable, but I know for a fact that many students appreciate the encouragement that I give them.  And if I focus on giving it to one or two–or four or five, even–each day, then I will be making a difference in the lives of some students, no matter how slight a difference that may be.  It most certainly is worth the effort to me, and to the other people in my life upon whom I have an effect.

Our workaday lives are filled with opportunities to bless others.  The power of a single glance or an encouraging smile must never be underestimated.

G. Richard Rieger