PIVOT…SHIFT…ADAPT…PAUSE

PIVOT…SHIFT…ADAPT…PAUSE

I saw these four words in a tweet the other day, and I have probably seen them more in print in the last three months than I care too.  While sitting in “another” Zoom meeting this week, I probably spent more time thinking about them then paying attention in the meeting (sorry to admit that Mr. Wagner)

PIVOT, SHIFT, ADAPT, and PAUSE…these four words have become standard operating procedure for many of us in our professions, homes, workplace, and families…and really, they are part of who we are and where we are at this point in history. 

PIVOT

The action of pivoting; turning on or as if on a pivot

As an old basketball coach, a pivot brings to mind the pivot foot…once you establish your pivot foot, you have to make something work for you.  A slash, a pass, a shot, a turnover…but there is no going anywhere else.  You are in that spot to do your thing until you make a decision.  Unfortunately, I think many of us establish our “pivot foot” and end up stuck in that spot.  

The last few months of a global pandemic, economic shut down, and civil unrest does not allow us to stay on that pivot foot…we have to figure out what’s next, not stay the same, and work to make something good happen out our pivot. 

SHIFT

To make a change in; to go through a change

When I was 14 years old, my dad had a Red Chevy S-10 Pick-Up truck that was a stick shift.  I clearly remember him teaching me and learning how to shift gears on Smiths Creek Road in Smiths Creek, MI (that’s a real place, look it up 😊) 

Pushing in the clutch just enough, letting up on the gas, smoothly, or not so smoothly, making the transition from gear to gear was a hard skill to learn. There was a direct correlation to the gears grinding loudly with my father’s stern instruction’s (that is what I will call it).  As I got better and better at it, the gears grinded less and my father’s voice became, shall we say, less stern. 

It did not happen over-night, it took time and practice to learn how to effectively shift from one gear to the other.  I wish that learning to shift our mindsets was a little more like today’s newer cars where you just turn a knob to shift…but alas, it is not.  It is a skill that we must work to master as we continue through these unprecedented times in which we live.

ADAPT

To make fit, often by modification

Adaptability is the ability to respond quickly to a changing set of circumstances.  I think we can all agree, that the circumstances continue to change quickly: sometimes weekly and even daily.  In my profession of education, we are working to make our school day work without a school day...talk about not making any sense based on what we know…but, we must continue to adapt.    

We all must be able to adjust to changing conditions, and we will not always be successful.  The Greek philosopher once said, “The only thing that is constant is change.” and Theodore Roosevelt was once quoted saying, “There can be no life without change, and to be afraid of what is different or unfamiliar is to be afraid of life.”  Like it or not, this is our new life and we cannot be afraid to face it head on. 

As we continue through this journey that we are all on together, it is important that we be reminded that there is not “book”, “manual”, or “rules” that are written to explain how to make our new normal work.  Thomas Friedman, a three time Pulitzer Prize winning author wrote this, “Entrepreneurs don't write a 100-page business plan and execute it one time; they're always experimenting and adapting based on what they learn.”  

I think that we all need to be entrepreneurs as we continue to move forward and be willing to keep trying new things and adapting to this new normal. 

PAUSE

Temporary inaction, especially as caused by uncertainty

There are six definitions in Webster’s when you look up “pause”.  I am pretty sure the one above is a perfect fit for where we are in this crazy year of 2020 and I think it is important to be able to take a pause when we need to…

I remember sitting on my back deck a few months back on an April morning after watching a Corona Virus Task Force briefing the night before, preparing for a faculty Zoom meeting…and I just lost it.  I started to cry, wondering about our future, thinking about my oldest daughter at college, thinking about my youngest daughter not getting to finish her senior year, my students in their homes trying to make sense of all that was going on, our teachers trying to do their best with remote teaching, the deaths that just seemed to be growing…..this crazy virus and its results just caught up to me.  I just sat there and paused…I needed that! 

I needed that pause, to collect myself, get rid of those emotions, focus on the good things, and move on with the rest of my morning.  I think too many times, we do not allow ourselves to take that “pause”.  We many times feel the need to be doing more, do it quicker, do it better than the next guy(or maybe its just me 😊)

As we continue to move forward with all that is going on, remind yourself of the importance of taking that “pause”.  Whether it is at work, in your home, neighborhood, the gas station, the grocery store; take that pause and allow your self to remember that we are all in this together, this new normal.

Then, after that PAUSE,

maybe there is a PIVOT, that you need to make,

to SHIFT your thinking,

and then ADAPT what comes next to

better yourself,

your family,

your community,

and your workplace. 

Fighting the same fight that we still find ourselves fighting today...

“FIGHTING THE SAME FIGHT THAT WE STILL FIND OURSELVES FIGHTING TODAY"

As the events of the last 10 days have unfolded across our country, I have been flooded with a wide range of emotions:  disgust, anger, sadness, uncertainty, fear, inadequacy…just to name a few.  As a privileged, middle age white male, I have not had to face so many of the issues of systemic racism that my African American friends face daily.  I have not been fearful for my family to face unjust behavior, I have not worried about my daughters being called racist names in their school and community, and I have not had to try explain to them why some people don’t like them because of the color of their skin….and the list goes on. 

“LISTEN TO THEIR SOULS.  LISTEN, AND TAKE A LESSON FROM THE DEAD”

Looking back on growing up in a small, pre-dominantly white, very small, mid-western town…I can say that I was fortunate enough to not have had to face racism. There were not a lot of black people in my small community…but I do not remember looking at that fact through the lens of racism. 

Mark Washington was our senior class president and we played high school football together, to this day, he is one of the smartest and hard-working people I have ever known.  Derrek Holiday lived outside of town near where we lived and I would ride to school and home from practice sometimes with him in his orange, yes orange, car.  I remember that orange car fondly and I also remember his infectious laugh and the fun times of dancing to and singing to Prince and Morris Day with him (”everybody walk your body, everybody walk!”), but I digress…I also remember sharing many classroom experiences and lots of laughter with Kim Williams and Lisa Cathey, with whom I was friends from middle school through graduation.

In looking back and reflecting, I did not look at them as different…they were just friends, teammates, and classmates…but what was that like for them, to be black in a white world.  I am not sure I have ever thought about this from that perspective until these last few days.  I am sure they faced many challenges that I was oblivious too. 

Should I feel bad about my obliviousness?  Should I feel remorse?  Did they see it the way I saw it?  Or, should I celebrate the fact that to me, it just was what it was back then?  Friends, Teammates, and Classmates…These are just a few of the thoughts running through my mind as I look back and reflect. 

“IF WE DON'T COME TOGETHER, WE TOO WILL BE DESTROYED.  I DON'T CARE F YOU LIKE EACH OTHER, BUT YOU WILL RESPECT EACH OTHER."

What I have realized and what I believe we all must recognize, is that we have so much left to learn as Parents, Friends, Educators, Co-workers, and Leaders.  Each of us must continue to work at listening to each other, to become more aware of our individual biases, to allow ourselves to continue to improve as individuals, communities, and a country.  

WE must face the challenge…not just our African American brothers and sisters, but ALL OF US, especially those of us who live in a white privileged world.  We are challenged to change our culture…We are challenged to appreciate the diversity that has made us great…We are challenged to be better today then we were yesterday and be better tomorrow then we are today.  George W Bush said it this way, “This will require a consistent, courageous, and creative effort.  We love our neighbors as ourselves when we treat them as equals”

The challenge is not comfortable...The challenge is frustrating...The challenge is difficult.  

But through uncomfortable, frustrating, and difficulty challenges, there is almost always victory.  

I pray for that victory for all of us…

"AND MAYBE...I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE...WE WILL LEARN TO PLAY THE GAME LIKE MEN”

And life will go on, nonetheless.

           I saw the picture above posted this week on twitter, and it really got me thinking. As we have moved through weeks of this craziness now, many thoughts, feelings, and emotions have come and gone, and then come back again.  I have certainly heard more about ventilators, N95 masks, “flattening the curve”, social distancing, contact tracing, “New Normal”, “Unprecedented”, “Front-Line Heroes” then I ever thought I would.  These things we hear about every day are constant reminders of the crazy time we are in.

And yet…LIFE WILL GO ON, NONETHELESS. 

This week a good friend lost her sister to Covid-19.  Its one thing to hear about number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths each day in the daily briefing, it is another thing when there is a name and a loved one attached to those items.  For the families and friends of those who have lost a loved one, I cannot imagine the feeling of helplessness that must occur when you cannot protect, help, or even see those in a hospital. 

And yet…LIFE WILL GO ON, NONETHELESS.

That feeling of helplessness has reminded me these last few weeks that it has been 10 years this year since we lost my mom to cancer.  I remember the weeks and months that followed: waiting for the phone to ring, to hear her voice, to listen to her unsolicited advice…and those things never came.  I remember sitting with my Dad at the kitchen table during the days that followed the funeral, talking about what comes next, wanting it to not be true, wishing there had been another outcome.

And yet…LIFE WILL GO ON, NONETHELESS. 

There has been much discussion over the last week of when to “re-open” the county…Yesterday, the Governor of Georgia made the announcement that some things will “re-open” here as we move into next week.  The uncertainty of what comes next, is this a good decision, a bad decision…kind of makes my head spin. 

And yet…LIFE WILL GO ON, NONETHELESS. 

Winston Churchill once said, “Now is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”.  Not sure if we are at the beginning, the middle, or the end of this crazy, but one thing I am sure of…

LIFE WILL GO ON, NONETHELESS. 

HOPE is a GOOD THING

So..... I have been gonna start this BLOG thing for quite some time and i figure there is no better time than a national pandemic/shelter in place/quarantine yourself kinda time to do it, right?

It has certainly been a crazy few weeks for everyone, and being in education, and in life trying to navigate a rather huge shift in what we do, each and every day, is almost unfathomable when you really think about it.  Providing instruction in school is just a small part of what goes on in every school building across this great country of ours....but i digress

The quote above is from one of my favorite movies..."The Shawshank Redemption"  I saw the quote on Twitter last week, and it is something i have really been leaning on ever since.  Check out the clip from the end of the movie (spoiler alert if you have never seen it, but if you have never seen it, shame on you anyway :))  The set up is Red (Morgan Freeman) finally gets out of jail and remembers something Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) told him years ago when they were in jail together...

That is not the greatest set up for the clip I know, but trust me, just hit play...watch...listen...and take in ALL OF THE CLIP.

The words...the music...the emotion...the beauty, the innocence, the simplicity of it all!

and most of all.......the HOPE that just pours out from the entire clip.

So many thoughts have gone in, through, around, back out, then back in, around, and around, and then back out again in the last few weeks.  It seems like every 24 to 48 hours we have a news cycle that is changing and evolving.  It is surely easy to get caught up in the craziness...but with all that, it really boils down to one thing that i think we all need...HOPE.  

No matter how strong, self-confident, self-assured, and trusting we are, these tough times are tough on all of us.  This crazy time is viciously forcing its will upon all of us....and in a not so subtle way!  As this situation becomes more personal for each of us, as we start to hear of  families being directly affected, someone who has gotten it, someone who is in the hospital because of it, someone who has died from it.... We all need it...HOPE.

As the reality of my daughter's Senior Year began to slip away last week and into this week, other realities came to the forefront of my mind... the reality of never getting to watch her on the lacrosse field again, the reality of not taking pictures with her on prom night, the reality of her possibly not walking across that stage on graduation day, and perhaps the toughest reality; the look in her eyes of uncertainty, frustration, and why?   And for my oldest daughter, a second year college student, the fear and unknown of "am i going back to campus?", "will i still have my job?", "will this keep me from getting into the education program?"All i can, want, and need to give to them is HOPE.

The reality of other ideas began to build as well...the reality of another level of weakness, helplessness, and sadness for her, for her friends, and for the hurt that must be inside.  The hurt that each and every day we talk about that will eventually turn into joy...the joy that will come from the memories we are making during this time.  Time that we have been able to be together as a family, play games, focus on each other, and hold each other close when the weight of the world outside our doors continues to make absolutely no sense...The Joy that comes from the HOPE of an end to this craziness.

I think too about our state, our country, the families that will forever be impacted economic downturn, by lost jobs, and most importantly by the sickness and deaths of ones they love.  How will we recover from this?  There are no easy answers to that question..

But i do know this...for now, we need to have HOPE.  

Because HOPE is a GOOD THING, 

maybe the BEST OF THINGS,

and NO GOOD THING EVER DIES!

See you #ontheHORIZON