“Mrs. Cross, what if…”
There were so many “What if” questions asked after the recent tragedy in Parkland, Fla., where 17 lost their lives to violence on a high school campus.
As a teacher, you want to be prepared to answer those questions, and I know we as educators did our best, and still do, each and every time a tragedy strikes close to home.
But let me say this. We can’t focus on the “What ifs” for any longer than it takes for us to do our very best to prepare for them. If that is where we put our focus, we lose sight of the opportunities in our “Right nows.”
Right now, our students are in the prime of their youth. They’re learning their passions (and distastes, which is fine, too). They’re learning what kind of adult they want to grow up to be, and they’re looking to parents and leaders and teachers for examples of what works and what doesn’t.
They’re looking for our reactions to tragedy, our responses to success and our efforts put forward to those in need.
For every “What if,” followed by a negative or tragic possibility, let us instead focus on the “Right nows” right around us. Those are the things we can control. Those are the things that when acted upon in an instant can change the future “What ifs.”
Right now, someone needs love. Right now, someone is looking for an answer to a burning question. Right now, we can change our surroundings, our city, our nation, our world for the better.
Right now is the time to act. It is in this moment that the future is changed for all of us. One little kindness right now may be the one thing that changes the world forever, and that could start with any of us.
Right now will slip away in the blink of an eye, and for these students who will soon be the leaders of our community and communities around the world, right now is the time to make our impact.
What if, right now, we did?