W . A . L . K . AWAY FROM THE “ WHAT ELSES ?” A LESSON IN STRESS MANAGEMENT
BY : LORI BROWN
I
recently visited a local drive-through to acquire a less than healthy dinner after a long , stressful day . The young man taking the orders kept shouting through the speaker , “ What else ? What else ? What else ?” His abundant eagerness to please the customers was rather comical at first , until I found myself shocked into the reality that I wanted fast food because of the exhaustion from life ’ s “ What Elses .” I was honestly running on fumes , incapable of a coherent thought , or deed in that moment , and for some reason I thought French fries would refuel the tank .
Sound familiar ? If you ’ re in the business of running classrooms or schools , then you know this phenomenon well because school life and leadership often leaves us exhausted , burdened , and overwhelmed - questioning “ What Else ?” can happen on any given day .
The “ What Else ?” Worries at School
If there ’ s one thing that educators around the globe can agree on , it is that school life is a life of “ What Elses ,” particularly when you ’ re the one “ in charge ” of keeping everything moving forward . Every day finds you facing important stakeholders who need you to be a “ know it all ” and do it all . “ Teacher , I need this !” and “ Can you do this for me ?” Or Director _“ Tell me how to fix this …” Everybody needs a piece of you , to the point that you often feel as if you ’ ve lost yourself . All the “ What Elses ” sadly leave you with “ nothing else ” to give .
Students , parents , teachers , teacher assistants , coaches , specialists , counselors and community leaders look to school leaders and teacher leaders to set the tone for success within local academic environments , and this often means long days and nights to get it all done . The one truth I always say remains unchanged in education is , that there will ALWAYS be a crisis . Crises never disappear ; they just manifest themselves in new formats with new or different people ; an angry parent ; an injured student ; a troubled teenager ; a frustrated teacher and more – somebody , somewhere has a crisis that only you can fix .
But you can ’ t be a super hero , nor can you respond to every “ What Else ?” tossed your way . So , what ’ s the solution ? Do we just quit and find another field of work ? Do we prioritize more self-care ? Do we suddenly “ Just Say No ” to everyone ? Or do we run until we ’ re beyond exhausted with nothing left to give ?
I ’ d argue that the best solution is none of the above . Instead , I ’ d like us to consider an approach that allows us
38 Term 3 Apr - Jun 2021
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