A national shoe company wanted to expand its business into rural areas.  It sent two shoe salesmen into one region of the backwoods.  After a short while passed, one salesman came back totally frustrated.  Stumping, with a dour look on his face, he angrily exclaimed with great exasperation: “What a waste of my time. None of these people wear shoes.  I’m cursed!  ” The second salesman appeared much later with a a zip in his step, an excited smile on his face, exuberantly exclaiming, “What a fantastic opportunity I have there. None of these people wear shoes.  It’s a miracle!”

Which salesman are you when you enter the classroom?  The one that spirals down into hopelessness having converted challenge into barrier or the one that spirals up into optimism having transformed challenge into opportunity?  It all just depends on what you see and to what you intensely listen; and, what you see and to what you listen reveal what you’re made of.  That must be a heck of a “just” because so many of us academics have so many negative “they’re letting anyone in” or “students nowadays” thoughts toward students which we let define us into unenthusiastic and maybe even self-pitying “alas” and “ah, me” situations and dispositions.

You know, the simplest and easiest way to improve our teaching?  Remake ourselves.  You know the most complicated and hardest way to improve our teaching?  Remake ourselves.  Simple or complicated, easy or hard, we have to acquire a habit of always seeing blessings instead of curses, of being up rather than down, of being positive instead of negative, of dancing rather than plodding, of smiling–inside and out–instead of frowning, of seeing today as nothing less than a miracle, of knowing each of our lives is a miracle.  I know, simple is not easy.  But, hard is not synonymous with “impossible!”  “Hard” is synonomous with “important,” “valuable,” “significant,” “transforming,” and “accomplishment.”   The “learned helplessness” can be unlearned.  If you have the persevering “hang-in-theredness,” if you build up your emotional and mental fitness, if you foster strong, supporting, and encouraging connections, if you replace a poverty of spirit with a richness, if you have the discipline to establish the habit of an upbeat disposition, if you lighten rather than darken, if you retrain yourself to see and listen, all this positive stuff will be powerful beyond your wildest dreams.  Trust me, I know.  I’ve been there and am still there.  Happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, significance do not rely on what is happening around us, but what is happening inside us.  True giving and service in the classroom is not rooted in information; it is rooted in connection and community; its foundation love, faith, hope, empathy, and compassion.   Our lasting impact comes from who we are, not from what we know.  Our ability to feel these feelings is among the most wonderful and miracle-creating teaching tools–living tools, for that matter— we have at our disposal to make everything serene, comfortable, meaningful, purposeful, gratifying, and significant for everyone.

Dreamy, flighty, “hallmarkish,” soft, touchy-feely, “new age-ish, mushy?  Heck, this is supported by the latest hard science!

Whatever it is, determined to be the likes of the second salesman, at the start of the day, before the sun rises, I have a ritual of doing five to six things.  First, I grind my coffee beans and make myself a pot freshly brewed coffee.  Second, every other day, I go out for a meditative three mile power walk while on the other days I do my dumbbell sets.  Third, I randomly pick a word from my stack of positive “Word to Live By Today.”  The other morning the word happened to be “smile.”   With my Susan having back surgery that morning to remove a cyst from her lower spine, it was a great word for that day, and while I was at the hospital waiting I made it a point to find reasons to smile and help others smile.  Fourth, I slowly read and reflect on each line in my “Teacher’s Oath” with the intention of living each word.  Fifth, I gaze at some words hanging above my computer the latest of which are those of Pablo Casals:  “Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he acts on it and listens to it, he is giving a great deal of what the world needs most. It is not complicated, but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act upon it.”   And finally, I close my eyes and imagine an angel walking in front of each student proclaiming, “Make way!  Make way!  Make way for someone created in the image of God.”  I use them all collectively to put me into a deep caring, empathetic, faithful, hopeful, and, above all, loving mood; I use them to realize how amazing each moment is; I use them to appreciate all the wonder I am immersed in; I use them to be thankful for all the good I have; I use them to celebrate the magnificent miracles in each supposedly ordinary moment; I use them to treasure it all.

All this is not a series of fluffy emotional or mental exercises.  This is visceral stuff, for as I choose to bring my purpose and vision into my consciousness, I feel a surge of the immense power of intention, an energized focus of caring.  It is an energy that grows and envelopes me, envelopes and extends beyond me, extends and embraces others.  You see, the most powerful teaching technique you have at your disposal is an empathetic and compassionate heart.  It’s a simple syllogism:  improve your heart, you improve your life; improve your life, you improve everything you feel, think, and do; improve everything you feel and think and do, you create a better world for everyone around you.

So, I ask again:  which salesman are you when you enter the classroom?

Louis