Come Forward: January

 I think that most of agree the January is a very hard month. I as mentioned not long ago, it's the time after the holidays that we should recoup from our adventures in gift giving and merriment. There are these things called "resolutions" that seem to stop up from getting fully rested. This is the time of year where everyone is highly motivated to get healthier, happier, and betty in what area of their life that they deem needs fixing. The problem with the "high stakes high reward" mentality when it comes some of these resolutions is that they are not practical. Since they are not practical it's hard to keep up with them. I know that in my fair share of setting goals and trying to change I bit off more than I can chew most of the time. That is why setting a goal and taking tiny steps to get it is much better than just jumping in full force.

Now, I will say sometimes the first step is jumping in. At least that is what Mrs. G in Freedom Writers did when she showed up for her first day as a teacher. 

Mrs. G came to Woodrow Wilson High School with the hope that she would be able to not only teach her kids, but to instill a love of learning. However, when she got to the school things did not go how she expected them to go. She knew that tensions would be high because of the violence and tension the surrounded LA for the last few years and because the school has gone "down hill" due to the introduction of a more diverse groups of people. She thought that she would have gotten a small ounce of teaching done. However, the students wanted nothing to do from her. That all changed when she found a way to get the kids to see that they share similar lives and stories not matter what they think about how they look on the outside. 

Mrs. G offered up the use of journals in order to help them to develop and go through what is going on in their personal lives. Then when they felt like they could trust her they slowly start to let her teach them. threw these babies steps, they started enjoying her classroom and soon became very motivated to set goals and make things happed for them they never dreamed possible. They soon learned that they are more capable than what the people and culture around them tell them.

 I don't think I have ever seen this movie all the way through before. I saw enough of it to know how everything kind of goes down and how it ends. However, when you don't sit through whole thing it's hard to really get the full depth of the movie. It was so good to see how one person can do something to effect other peoples lives. What I love to is she met them where they were at. She expected more from them but she didn't expect it to happen all at once. She met them where they were at emotionally, and where they were at in their studies. 

I know for me and my schedule, there is a lot of pushing through in order to get things done. I know that if I am idle that it can cause chaos in my personal, emotional and spiritual life. That I know that Sometimes you just have to make yourself do something and push on to the next. Not every step you take, in whatever it is we are al working on, is going to be fun. Sometimes we have to just make ourselves get to the next step. The next step could be amazing, or it could be the very thing you need to get to to make more progress

I am hoping that as the year goes on that I will be able to see where I need to push through and where I might be able to get to try a different tactic. I know from experience that just pushing through, and doing only that, will cause you to burn out.