Originally posted by: skeptical
After a long vacation, all the teachers were asked to come a day in advance to school. We all sighed. Oh dear........... lectures yet again. Our groanings and moanings were actually of no use. It hss become an annual ritual. However, once we reach there we enjoy ourselves.
Since I teach in a missionary school, it is imperative for us to hear all about goodness of heart and to see the Lord in every child etc etc.
So every year we get a visiting priest to give us a good "foundation" before school actually starts. This year was no exception. A tall six footer came along. A septugenarian with a very kind face and blue eyes full of laughter. You guessed it ..... he was a foreigner. This guy has now lived in India for the past mayb 15 years or so.
Anyway, he started off by telling us that he was going to tell us short stories with a moral. To prevent us from going off to sleep, there would be a drawing class side by side. We were curious. What was this? Go to sleep..........sure we would after such a long holiday and such a drab subject.
And the day started. Let me tell you how it ended. Father John told us to draw a shoe. What now ...we thought but obeyed him. He told us to exchange our papers. Most of us laughed to our pieces of art. He then told us a story.
Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country.
One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony.
He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need thousands of cows' skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.
Then one of his wise servant dared himself to tell the king, "Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money ? Why don't you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?"
The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a "shoe" for himself.
There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story : to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.
"Similarly," continued Fr John, "To make the school a happy place to be in, you as a teacher must change yourself - your heart, your point of view and not the child. You are here to help the child to grow and metamorphose.
Learn to see not just with your eyes but with your hearts, widen your way of thinking, constantly be creative and improvise."
Easy to say............................
"From mistakes you get hindsight, broaden your horizons and become foresighted.......this way you see and make a future. Those who persevere with God constantly beside them are the few chosen ones who become visionaries. Dear Teachers even if you don't become visionaries yourselves try to make at least one from your group one."
One of my jottings ................ thought I'd share it with you.
Anupamaa
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
