Back to school is such an exciting time! New teachers and classes, new friends and schedules, new shoes and clothes, new backpacks and lunch boxes brings smiles to most faces. From the youngest student just beginning Pre-K to the oldest student out there, all will be learning many things.
Maybe your favorite is science or math, maybe you are really good at writing or you just live for lunch and recess. The lessons learned will get you ready for the next step in school or help you achieve higher grades in favorite subjects.
But, the most important lessons you learn may not be on your class schedule and their grades will never show up on your report cards. You may learn that you are not good at all the subjects taught in school. That’s okay. You won’t be good at everything in life either. Some things you try you will like and do exceptionally well, others you may not like or do well at all. You will still be required to do them. Do them to the best of your ability, finish them and move on. You will learn the things you need from them, and I promise no one will ever say ‘you don’t get this job because you made a C in algebra or did poorly in history.’
They might pass you by if you quit, gave up or dropped out of many things you started or tried. So, finish what your start. It is important. You may also learn that you do not like every teacher you have or you are not great friends with every classmate you meet. Life will be much like that as well. My grandmother would say, ‘suck it up, buttercup,’ meaning move on and be a nice you anyway.
When you finish school and get a job, a family and a life of your own, you will most certainly have bosses you cannot stand, coworkers you can’t trust or relate to, and acquaintances that you possibly work on a project with or see in the community, but you sure don’t want to have lunch or share secrets with them. Guess what? Not everyone is going to like you, pick you, want to work with you either. To succeed at doing you, learn to be respectful of all, work with integrity, don’t gossip and complain and value your true friends. Those less than chummy acquaintances will take care of themselves.
Now you may actually do your part, and you still could get your feelings hurt by someone who is mean spirited, unkind, unhappy or hurtful. Granny used to say, ‘hurting people hurt people.’ You can’t change another person, you can only change yourself. Ask first if you can change where or how you do something to not be in direct contact with the hurtful person. Then ask what you can learn from being hurt by them and use it to keep from hurting others.
Did they leave you out? Be certain to include others when you can, even those that seem different to you. Did they say hurtful things to or about you? Realize words can never be taken back once they are spoken. Never say something about someone you wouldn’t say to them, and if you are mad, take a minute to calm down before you speak. Walk away, write it down or take a few deep breaths and keep yourself from being the hurter that hurts someone else. Learn to work with all different kinds of people in all different kinds of situations and setting and learn to manage yourself even when it is tough. That will make you successful even if you aren’t a straight A student.
You can buy a machine to do math, check your spelling, correct your writing mistakes and even look up facts you forget from school days. You will never find a machine that can perform your people skills for you. Getting along with people is necessary no matter what you do in life. That is something you must learn to do for yourself.
Finally, you may learn that some days are just not fun. The school work is hard, you hate what’s for lunch, your bestie is absent and your new shoes hurt your feet; you have too much homework and your mom is grumpy, you’re grounded from TV and your tablet is broken; your brother is the favorite, baby sister gets everything and you have no allowance left to go to the ball game Friday.
Life is never fair. Thankfully it is constantly changing and each day is another chance. Mom will feel better tomorrow, your brother is really cool to your classmates, baby sister is growing up fast and will one day be your dearest friend, homework gets graded, and life continues. Some days are not meant to be fun. Granny used to say, ‘some days are just a lot of work.’ Do the work and do it right and know that the fun will be there later. After you get your allowance, maybe you can go to the game and after you do the hard work of getting through this school year and growing up one more level, there will be new fun things to do and new fun experiences you have never had before. That is part of learning, part of growing and changing, and it is not always on your schedule.
