Growing Pains

Feeling comfortable is not the pathway for growth. I’m not implying we as teachers should be uncomfortable but we should grow. Being uncomfortable sucks. Growth hurts.

I remember when I was six years old; I used to get these night time leg cramps. Even now as I write this post they send shivers down my spine. I would lie in bed, unable to sleep, stare and the bottom of the bunk bed above me, and inevitably scream out for my parents to help me. When I told my dad about the pain he responded that it was all part of growing up. According to him (and at seven this made perfect sense) at night my legs were growing. These were in his words “growing pains.”

Growing as a school community, expanding our network of educators, through people leaving to teach in other places and administrators moving on hurts. However in the end it is growth.

Ok I must admit the leg thing didn’t all work out in the end exactly as dad had said. I was in so much pain I figured I should be about seven foot tall. I’m only 5’7”. I guess I’m sharing this because my dad’s acknowledgement of the “growing pains” helped me finally get some sleep.

Moving on, growing, separating from comfortable situations and risking growth is never simple.