As this year winds up, and we are busily continuing to plan for 2022, I think it is important for us to take some time out to reflect upon the year that has been.
I am sure that we are all in the same boat when we think of the many highlights that 2021 has provided, however, I am sure that we would all agree there have also been a few lowlights too.
Throughout this year, a word that has been heavy on my heart is perspective. As Christians, a biblical perspective is applied to all aspects of our lives. And particularly as educators, applying a biblical perspective to our teaching is also very important. Whilst this is sometimes hard, it is imperative for the students who have been entrusted into our care to receive this guidance.
Perspective, by definition, according to Google means: A particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view.
As the continuing COVID-19 pandemic causes grief across the globe, I found myself thinking a little while back about the world in which we live in and contemplating how we are dealing with and working our way through the busyness of life in spite of the ongoing complications. Whilst we haven’t been directly impacted by enduring lockdown periods, we certainly have still felt the impacts in one way or another. I think that the trend we are seeing through watching mainland Australia respond to COVID-19 is that as a society, we don’t do uncertainty very well.
For many people, particularly those on the mainland, certainty, and routine have been replaced by uncertainty and unpredictability. We can either lean into uncertainty and unpredictability and accept it, even embrace it, or we can suffer. Depending on your perspective, what’s going on will be viewed as either a minor or major event.
Just for a moment, I want you to imagine that we are being directly impacted by a COVID-19 outbreak and subsequently 10-weeks into a lockdown. How would you respond to the following question?
Are you stuck at home, or, Are you safe at home? Our answers will depend on our perspective.
During the last holiday break, I was chatting to a mate and he said to me, “I’ve got to take the kids to town to buy them new shoes.” As he made this statement, there was a hint of resentment in the fact he had to do it, and something about the way he said it annoyed me.
As I was driving home, I was thinking about this comment and again I started thinking about perspective. From time to time I will openly whinge about being a taxi for my boys. Most Saturdays are taken up driving from soccer oval to soccer oval for matches or refereeing, but I actually enjoy the opportunities to watch them play and to be in the car with them. Usually, it's just one of the boys and myself. I find it a great chance to have a chat. As we are sitting side by side, it is generally less threatening and they will quite often open up and talk about stuff they normally wouldn’t at home.
As I was thinking about this, it dawned on me why my mate’s comment was annoying. He said to me, “I’ve got to take the kids to town”. This statement reflects an expectation or entitlement. I think a better way to phrase it would be, “I get to take the kids”. This second statement shows more of a sign of appreciation and feeling lucky. By simply switching a vowel, from an ‘o’ to an ‘e’, it changes the perspective on what we are doing and our attitude changes as a result.
We determine our responses. Our perspective is what helps get us through difficult times. Some of you may have heard of the Stockdale Paradox. It is an inspiring story of James Stockdale who was a United States Navy vice admiral and aviator who was awarded the Medal of Honour in the Vietnam War, during which he was a prisoner of war for over seven years. The Stockdale Paradox was made famous in the Jim Collins book, From Good to Great. Stockdale believed:
You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
Can you imagine, being a prisoner of war and embracing both the harshness of his situation with a balance of healthy optimism! The flipside to this mindset was the overly optimistic soldiers. During an interview, Stockdale was asked about those who did not make it and why, he replied with:
“Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “The optimists.”
“The optimists? I don’t understand,” I said, now completely confused, given what he’d said a hundred meters earlier.
“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”
So as this year ends, I would like to encourage us to all be optimistic for the good times ahead but to not forget about the current realities that we face. With the recent addition of the COVID-19 variant Omicron, we need to remember to maintain high levels of hygiene, physically distance when appropriate and abide to set restrictions. With the right perspective, encouraging these practices will assist in us being able to enjoy the freedom we have living here in Tasmania.
Drew Roberts — Deputy Principal