I realize that I am already much happier and more excited for my new job (even when I am exasperated) than I was at my previous job (where I was in fight or flight for thirteen hours). I love teaching! I read this quote recently from Becky Bailey, the creator of Conscious Discipline, and it rings so true:
“Ida, a medicine woman with whom I worked in New Mexico, taught me a profound lesson. Ida used the words “learning” and “teaching” interchangeably… [E]ventually I came to realize that her synonymous use of these words contained great wisdom. Ida taught me that we fool ourselves when we pretend that learning and teaching are separate activities, with the teacher giving something to the learner, and nothing to himself or herself. Moreover, we have mistakenly treated teaching as a special activity that we do only at designated times. I’ve found that teaching and learning occur continually, and that teaching is a constant process for everyone, not just for those whom we call “teachers” or “students.” I have come to realize that whatever I teach, I learn. At every moment, you teach other people and reinforce in yourself your sense of who you are, and what other people mean to you. Teaching and learning are actually the same.”
From Easy To Love, Difficult To Discipline by Becky A. Bailey
