Your Two Most Important Days

Samuel Clemens, better known to most as Mark Twain, was born in 1835.  He grew up in the state of Mississippi.  (side note:  did you ever notice how any kid can spell that word, but ask them to spell a simple pronoun and an adventure begins?)  Anyway, Mark Twain spent the majority of his life in M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I where he authored 28 books.  He was called “The first truly American writer” by William Faulkner, a huge compliment to say the least.  Mark Twain’s (no relation to Shania) most notable books were “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, written in 1876 and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, written in 1885.  These two books were probably required reading as you went through school.  Twain was also famous for his humorous quotes.  He described college as “a place where professor lecture notes go straight to the students lecture notes without passing through the brains of either.”  Perhaps he was on to lectures not having a huge effect size in student learning.  My focus today is on another Twain quote which centered on the two most important days of one’s life.  If you think on that for a minute, many things may come to mind.  Maybe the day you were married, the birth of your children, the day you proposed, getting baptized, landing your first job, buying your first home, seeing the Browns actually win a game…  The list is special to you for many reasons.  However, Mark Twain summed it up this way:  “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”  That is what I want to focus on. 

“Why” you were born is a really intriguing thought. Seriously, that is a deep thought. How about “why” you decided to become a teacher?  Is there any correlation to why you were born? Teaching is really a calling; at least that is what I believe.  Teaching isn’t for everyone.  Working with kids is not for everyone.  Working in a school is not for everyone.  What is it that drives you to do this for at least 180 days a year?  If the starting pay was $172,000 per year, would that attract more people?  It probably would, but maybe not the right people.  You see, just because someone is “smart” doesn’t necessarily make them a good teacher of anything.  There is both an art and science to this business.    Why were you put here?  What is the purpose that you are to fulfill?  Is this really what you are supposed to be doing? Do you really enjoy what you do?  Do most of your days seem like bad days?  What if I switched careers at this stage?   Trust me, there is more to life than just living and dying and what happens in that hyphen between those two dates is what defines you. If you have found your purpose by teaching and you know that you are making a positive difference each and every day, then I encourage you to keep running the race that was set for you.  Bloom where you are planted.  Know that you are serving a greater cause.  You’re not making widgets; you are developing people.  If this is truly what you were called to do, then leave it better than you found it.  Make the most of every opportunity.  Make a difference every single day.

---------------------------------------------------------------

 The Browns play at home vs the Bengals in round two of “The Battle of Ohio.”  0-5 is about as much fun as a Tupperware party.