Reacting is easy.  It’s human.  Something happens and we react.  It’s the HOW we react that is important as well as what we DO after the reaction.  Lately, I’ve found myself reacting about things and then re-enacting certain situations in my life.  Have you ever done that? Running those scenarios over and over in your head imagining how the conversations are going to go and how you’re going to handle them.  Part of that for me is a safety issue – I want to be as prepared as I can be as I don’t like being surprised.  I tell myself it’s because I don’t think that fast and need time.  But the other part of this is ego, plain and simple.  I don’t like being told what to do, I react defensively, I get angry or my feelings get hurt and then I start second guessing myself.  It’s exhausting.  But what if I did something different.?  What if after I reacted I respired, rethought and then re-envisioned?

It’s not just the little things however.  Sometimes it’s those big things.  Like I’m looking at an issue right now where there is the possibility that our school district may lose $15-20 million in funding this coming year.  This is a big thing.  A scary thing.  And so many people I know, including myself, have reacted with anger and fear.  This is going to hurt our students.  It’s going to put more stress on teachers with bigger class sizes and fewer resources.  People may lose jobs.  It’s a big deal.  My hope is that our leadership hasn’t reacted the same way.  My hope is that they are taking time to respire, rethink and re-envision.

I think most of us are under the impression that free, public education has always been a thing in this country, that the 3 R’s have always been the emphasis.  Not true.  I won’t take a lot of time to go into details, but while the first public school opened in 1635, the subject matter focus was on family, religion and community.  Girls were usually taught to read but not to write.  In the south, those who were educated were done so privately with paid tutors. In fact, education in the south was not widespread until after the Reconstruction.  Common schools came about in the 18th century but students did not attend for free.  Parents provided paid tuition, provided housing for the teacher and resources for that teacher.

It was 1918, a little over 100 years ago that it actually became a requirement for students to stay through 8th grade.  It wasn’t until the late 1970’s that segregation was completely eliminated.  Congress only recently passed the latest Every Student Succeeds Act.  Pages and pages of requirements, definitions, and proposed allocations for students to succeed – whatever that means today.  Obviously that definition has changed over the centuries.  And every time it changed, chances are it was because someone respired, rethought and re-envisioned.

It occurred to me that in the nearly 30 years that I’ve been in education, I have taught in rural and city schools, public and private parochial schools.  I have used a meeting room as a classroom where I was not allowed to decorate or leave anything out.  I am now in a classroom so large you could land a plane in it, full of every resource I could every ask for.  I’m fortunate.  I’ve taught in schools where I had to campaign for equipment and have paid for what I needed myself.  I still do on occasion.  The schools have changed, the funding has changed, the settings have changed, the years have passed, but the one constant was a teacher who taught no matter the circumstances.

I used education as an example here, but this can apply to anything and everything from the most minute to the largest of issues or situations.  Any time something happens and you feel like just “reacting”, remember to continue the process; respire, rethink and re-envision.  I wonder if we, as a culture, as a nation, aren’t struggling because all we’re doing is reacting?  Are we stopping, taking time to breathe, think and see where the new road is leading us?  Are we showing the good fruits of the spirit or are we just mirroring the anger and fear we’re reacting to?  We have a choice.  We have a chance to make great positive change, whether it’s in a relationship, in our jobs, in our education, in our politics or in our religion.  We just have to remember that after the initial reaction, we need to respire, rethink and re-envision.  The positive possibilities will be endless.