What I love most about the world is…
Everywhere I go I have met good people. Having been raised in a sheltered state, I’m lucky I have had the opportunity to travel an have wonderful parents who taught race, religion, gender, professions, status and are not important to making friends, and shouldn’t determine the way we treat people. One experience that sticks out in my mind takes place in New York City. I was there with my parents as a teenager and agreed to meet them after several hours of shopping. Probably walking from the Nike outlet to FAO Schwartz I heard a comment behind me.
“I’ll give you five bucks if you see someone with smile on their face in this city.”
I couldn’t help but turn around and laugh at the challenge. I saw two gruff looking construction workers in battered clothing. We made eye contact and the other said… “There, that guy!” pointing to me. They laughed and the challenger said I didn’t count because I overheard the conversation.
There is always an opportunity to enjoy the moment and I’ve often found strangers to enjoy it with.
The world would be a better place if…
Everyone in the world understood responsibility and attitude. I believe people can improve their life by understanding and acting upon these two principles.
The fifth definition I found for responsibility stated: reliability and dependability. (dictionary.com) If everyone on earth was reliable and dependable I feel it would change the way we look at life then leading to attitude. When I refer to attitude, I don’t mean we have to be chipper all the time. There is a place and time for everything, however when we portray an overall positive attitude in our lives it changes the relationships we have with others and will also lead to caring for our obligations. It’s almost a cyclical pattern.
What I would like to maintain about the world through my work as an educator is…
Though some parts of the world may not have it, I would like to continue using the tools that are available to us for learning. Preparing meetings and different developmental sessions with some of these tools will help others see the importance of the resources around us.
What I would like to change about the world through my work as an educator is…
I would like to improve upon the importance of education critical thinking in the workplace. Too often people come to a meeting afraid of the results, or afraid if something bad will happen. They may also have fears about bringing up an issue because it may cause “trouble.” I will continue to teach and share my views, give feedback that is necessary for improvement and be honest with everyone from direct reports to upper management, so they understand the perceptions and challenges faced. I will continue to challenge the status quo. All for improvement. I will know I have done well when those I work with seek education in any circumstance.
“What is _____?” with the response of “I’m not sure, let’s look it up?”
“What went well during that session? What could we improve on?”
“What are some of the issues we are facing right now?”
“Why are we doing this process?”
“Is there anything that would better improve our results?”
“How will this impact what we’re doing now, or our future?”
“Who’s involved?”
I want my students to …
• Be aware
• Challenge the status quo
• Think critically
• Act on what they’ve learned
• Be prepared
• Pursue knowledge
• Share best practices
• Be responsible
• Have a great attitude
15 years ago
3 comments:
Green Eggs,
from your obit, and your answers to your values questions, I think you care a great deal about individuals. As I was intrigued by Lindeman focusing on individuals, I think this probably true for you too. Having good religious practices as well shows your devotion. What I am curious from your values answers you state that you should question the status quo. You portray this in the business realm, but does this stop there?
does this carry over into other forms of adult ed such as community or religion, etc.
Sam,
Your obituary helped me understand you better. I gathered similar thoughts to what Lance said. Some assumptions you hold are:
1. You adopt the concept of lifelong learning and think others should adopt that concept as well.
2. You care about others and what to make a difference in other peoples lives. Whether through religion or through your workplace or even your friends and family.
3. You assume we do have some tools and that there is some good in this world but we as individuals should strive to make a difference.
Challenging the status quo, I believe, should be an everyday event. I feel it's our responsibility to look at life for improvements. If you see garbage on the floor, pick it up and put it in the garbage can. If you see something good, use it and build on it. It's an idea of improvements on what we already have.
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