Gifts and Appreciations

Well, I just have returned from having a second opinion concerning my cancer. The doctor reaffirmed the initial diagnosis. I do have prostrate cancer. It is in its early stages. It is “treatable.” Most important my Susan is assured and relieved as assured and relieved as she can be in this kind of situation. I have opted to have surgery in a little more two weeks from now, on the 26th, and will take three to four weeks recuperative leave from the physical classroom while entering the virtual classroom by keeping in contact with the students via computer.

I’ve also returned to two weeks worth of e-mails, nearly five hundred messages waiting for me. Almost half of them have made me speechless and paralyzed my fingers. This is one of those rare times I really don’t know what to say. I am so touched, so sincerely touched. I have such deep gratitude for the outpouring of sharing, reassurance, support, and encouragement from a host of people, many are close friends, many of whom are e-friends I’ve never met face to face or heard the sound of their voices, many of whom I’ve heard from for the first time telling me I am in their prayers. I have received e-cards from people whom I do not know. It’s such an uplift.

Actually, I do know what to say. A quiet and deeply sincere “thank you for your true gift” is all that needs to be said, for it says it all.

I am deeply thankful because these messages once again have forcefully reminded me that I could treat this cancer like a grudge. I once lived my life with a tightly held grudge. But, I learned a little over a decade ago that I wouldn’t be healthier or happier if I held on to it or any other grudges, large or small, tightly or loosely. I have come to learn what Confucius meant when he said, “To be wronged is nothing unless we continue to remember it.” Any decision to hold on to a grievance over this cancer would be my decision to suffer. More than that, it would extend the suffering into all facets of my life. And in a peculiar way it would give the cancer a way to hurt me and others again and again. Think about it. Focusing on this cancer won’t somehow punish the cancer any more than holding on to a grudge would harm the wrongdoer. No, I would only hurt myself and others far more. I’d give it permission to become a candle-snuffing or cloud covering entity. I would allow it to dwell in my the dark recesses of my consciousness and not allow me to enjoy the light of day; I wouldn’t be able free myself of it and be able to live freely today.

Yes, the words of these sincere well-wishers, then, are true gifts. What’s a true gift? It’s the timeless one. It’s the one that never ends. It’s the one that lasts long after the words have been erased, the cards have been discarded, decorations have been taken down and stored, the tree has been placed at the curb, the menorah have been returned to the shelf, the songs have been sung, seasonal rituals and traditions have given way to the return of the routine “normality of life,” and, in this case, the cancer has been extracted. The true gift is the one that is ever-lasting and treasured. It’s like that something meaningful and purposeful in the classroom that does not end after the lectures have been given, the notes written, the tests taken, the grades given, and the term ends. It’s something that goes far beyond and dives much deeper and lasts a lot longer than the immediacy of the grade and the confines of the subject information.

So, because of all you well-wishers out there, one of my resolutions, as my surgery date approaches, is to more resolutely feel about, look at, think about, and talk about this cancer with a simple: “screw you!!”

Thank you once again.

The lesson for us in life and life in the classroom is simple. Don’t underestimate the impact we have when we take the time to share ourselves with others, to support and encourage someone, to make someone feel worthy, significant, sacred, valued, valuable, noticed, and above all loved. So, if you want to make a difference in the lives of others, be they friends or family or strangers or colleagues or superiors or students, remember that no warm greeting of acknowledgement, no act of loving kindness, no gentle smile of encouragement, no soft words of appreciation are ever wasteful or wasted.

Make it a good day.

–Louis–
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About Louis Schmier

LOUIS SCHMIER “Every student should have a person who wants to help him or her help himself or herself become the person he or she is capable of becoming, and I’ll be damned if I am ever going to let one human being fall through the cracks in my classes without a fight.” How about a snapshot of myself. But, what shall I tell you about me? Something personal? Something philosophical? Something pedagogical? Something scholarly? Nah, I'll dispense with that resume stuff. Since I believe everything we do starts from who we are inside, what we believe, what we perceive, and what we do is an extension of ourselves, how about if I first say some things about myself. Then, maybe, I can ease into other things. My name is Louis Schmier. The first name rhymes with phooey, the last with beer. I am a 76 year old - in body, but not in mind or spirit - born and bred New Yorker who came south in 1963. I met by angelic bride, Susie, on a reluctant blind date at Chapel Hill. We've been married now going on 51 years. We have two marvelous sons. One is a VP at Samsung in San Francisco. The other is an artist with food and is an executive chef at a restaurant in Nashville, Tn. And, they have given us three grandmunchkins upon whom we dote a bit. I power walk 7 miles every other early morning. That’s my essential meditative “Just to …” time. On the other days, I exercise with weights to keep my upper body in shape. I am an avid gardener. I love to cook on my wok. Loving to work with my hands as well as with my heart and mind, I built a three room master complex addition to the house. And, I am a “fixer-upper” who allows very few repairmen to step across the threshold. Oh, by the way, I received my A.B. from then Adelphi College, my M.A. from St. John's University, and my Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have been teaching at Valdosta State University in Georgia since 1967. Having retired reluctantly in December, 2012, I currently hold the rank of Professor of History, Emeritus. I prefer the title, “Teacher”. Twenty-five years ago, I had what I consider an “epiphany”. It changed my understanding of myself. I stopped professoring and gave up scholarly research and publication to devote all my time and energy to student. My teaching has taken on the character of a mission. It is a journey that has taken me from seeing only myself to a commitment to vision larger than myself and my self-interest. I now believe that being an educator means I am in the “people business”. I now believe that the most essential element in education is caring about people. Education without caring, without a real human connection, is as viable as a person with a brain but without a heart. So, when I am asked what I teach, I answer unhesitatingly, “I teach students”. I am now more concerned with the students’ learning than my teaching, more concerned with the students as human beings than with the subject. I am more concerned with reaching for students than reaching the height of professional reputation. I believe the heart of education is to educate the heart. The purpose of teaching is to instill in all students genuine, loving, lifelong eagerness to learn and foster a life of continual growth and development. It should encourage and assist students in developing the basic values needed for learning and living: self-discipline, self-confidence, self-worth, integrity, honesty, commitment, perseverance, responsibility, pursuit of excellence, emotional courage, creativity, imagination, humility, and compassion for others. In April, 1993, I began to share ME on the internet: my personal and professional rites of passage, my beliefs about the nature and purpose of an education, a commemoration of student learning and achievement, my successful and not so successful experiences, a proclamation of faith in students, and a celebration of teaching. These electronic sharings are called “Random Thoughts”. There are now over 1000 of them floating out there in cyberspace. The first 185, which chronicles the beginnings of my journey, have been published as collections in three volumes, RANDOM THOUGHTS: THE HUMANITY OF TEACHING, RANDOM THOUGHTS, II: TEACHING FROM THE HEART, RANDOM THOUGHTS, III: TEACHING WITH LOVE, and RANDOM THOUGHTS, IV: THE PASSION OF TEACHING. The chronicle of my continued journey is available in an Ebook on Amazon's Kindle in a volume I call FAITH, HOPE, LOVE: THE SPIRIT OF TEACHING. There a few more untitled volumes in the works..

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