“Let’s not wait til the water runs dry, don’t do it baby,” are the words of a Boyz II Men song that I woke up with on my spirit one day this week. I listened to the song all day. It penetrated my subconscious thoughts about a change/shift that I will be making next month, in the area of my professional life. I realized I was letting my waters run dry and I was wasting my professional skills and watching it go by, just like Boyz II Men sang in the chorus.
How many of you can relate to running dry in relationships or friendships, on our jobs, during a pandemic, in everyday living, etc the list can go on forever. We all can relate to a moment in life where we felt our waters ran dry by going through the mundane motions of complacency or comfortability. It is extremely easy to get cozy on the comfortable, complacent, couch. This was me sitting on the couch, lying idle in my profession. This laziness allowed me to forget or question my value as an educator. I settled and stayed in a position that did not add to my teaching skills. I did sub a lot when there was a substitute shortage (seemed like every day). In the words of my cousin, Caroline, I was a whole teacher just sitting in detention, withering away. My waters were running dry.
Not only were my waters running dry, but the school I was working at was also a desert in it’s valuing and appreciating its staff. Teachers expressed their appreciation for me. The teachers also acknowledged and affirmed that I had strong teaching skills. I felt valued and appreciated by the teachers. However, my administrators did not express or acknowledge my value or skills. My administrators were not relational, very stand-off-ish, dismissive, and frankly just did not engage with the staff. I look back in comparison to my former administrators at my former school in North Carolina and I am grateful for the love, appreciation, acknowledgment, and community they fostered in that school (thank you Mrs.Stokes and Ms.Skinner). Well, my well has filled back up and I’m ready to teach again, but in a school that has a strong community.
This month (10/12/2020), I started back teaching in my new classroom (wooooo hoooo). The administrator that interviewed me expressed the community culture in their school without me asking. When I received the phone call from my new principal offering me the position one thing she said that resonated with me was, “You’re a certified teacher just working in ISS? Let me get you on our team before another school does.” This principal knows nothing about me but the information she gathered from the interview and my references. How is it that she knows my value?
Sometimes we get so lazy, complacent, and comfortable that we let our waters run dry. Just because you may be in a situation in which a mate, friend, family, work, or a plethora of people do not know your value or appreciate you, that does not mean you are worthless. If you are in a situation in which your waters are running dry know that you are priceless regardless of how stagnant or stuck you may feel or the lack of expressed appreciation. I am letting you know some people see your value and appreciate you. Make a plan and get off the comfy and complacent couch, remember your value, and move to the next phase of being in a space of appreciation and value. You got this! Your well is replenishing and your waters will no longer be dry. Cheers to us as our waters overflow with fresh new spring water! Drink, be merry, & remember your value!
Love Your Poet,
Zulmie
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