What's the Alternative?

Miss Nelson is Missing:

Growing up I read the book Miss Nelson is Missing.

It’s about a school teacher who goes absent from her classroom of disobedient students.

The sub who fills in for Miss Nelson is Miss Nelson, but she disguises herself as a woman named Viola Swamp.

Viola Swamp is nasty and the children quickly realize how much they miss Miss Nelson.

School Days:

In 2018 I spent a semester at a local high school facilitating a curriculum for The School Days Foundation.

On my first day the students behaved like Miss Nelson’s class before she went missing.

But I came back. Week after week, for a full semester, I came back.

And each lesson I’d tell the students, “You get out what you put in.”

Eventually it became a call-and-response.

I’d say, “You get out…”

The students would reply, “what you put in.”

Then we went on spring break, and I took time to reflect on the message.

Do you always get out what you put in?

Keep Going:

Prior to volunteering with School Days, I was living in a trap-house.

It was the second time I'd hit rockbottom.

And it was a return that was not consistent with my investment.

Do you always get what you put in?

No, but what's the alternative?

I can’t guarantee that it’s going to work, but I can guarantee that if you don’t try it won’t work.

When we returned from spring break that’s what I told the students.

Do you always get out what you put in?

No, but what’s the alternative?

The alternative is giving up.

That means we have to keep going.

Mental Health is Foundational:

Taking care of our mental health with wellness isn't a guarantee that you're going to get out what you put in.

Taking care of our mental health with wellness is how we build a foundation that can do everything from enhancing lives to saving them.

Keep building. 

Small steps. Great distances.℠

You know... Let's go!℠

 



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