Take a Moment
By Sue Olson
Middle School VP
Although I had a SDSCA newsletter article to write, I spent my Saturday morning clearing my garden and pondering what kind of profound ideas and thoughts I could share with my counseling colleagues. I wanted ideas that could help them be the best counselors possible. Maybe it was my unofficially diagnosed ADD getting in the way but nothing profound entered my mind. Hmm..."These pumpkins are beautiful. And, there are so many of them. I wonder if my friend, Kathy wants some. She could have some of the corn stalks too and I could help her make a corn stalk shock surrounded by pumpkins. I bet she would like to have that in her yard before her daughter comes on Sunday evening for a few days from Minneapolis." I called Kathy and within minutes she and her sons joined me at my garden and her sons were carrying corn stocks to their yard to construct their corn shock. Her boys are such workers and they had the corn stocks and pumpkins hauled while Kathy and I took a moment to give each other a hug, to share the latest on the happenings of our families, and to discuss a little of local and national news. She went home to get ready for her daughter's homecoming and I returned to clearing my garden...and to ponder what I kind of profoundness I could share with my colleagues.
I clipped sunflowers, raked fallen cherry tomatoes, piled leaves, wiped my brow, and saw a few carrots that were missed in an earlier digging. "Hmm...I bet my horses would like those." Off I went with a handful of carrots to feed Dee, Wally, and Chester. I always have to make sure Dee doesn't take more than her share and Chester gets a few of these cherished horse treats. Dee is the boss, Wally is her follower, and Chester is tolerated and sometimes bullied. The horses wandered off after they had been given adequate attention and they realized that my carrot supply was exhausted. (My horses have all gone for training and it appears that they are each stuck at about the seventh grade level in emotional development. I wish Dee would just be nice to Chester.) I love to spend time with my horses and as they returned to grazing, I watched them for a moment and then returned to the task at hand---clearing my garden and pondering what I could say that is profound.
The pumpkins and squash needed to be loaded into the wheelbarrow. My neighbor Mark was picking corn in the field adjoining my family's home and we took a moment give each other a hardy wave as we both continued to work. I love the autumn and in my heart I took a moment to give a silent prayer of thanks. "Hmm...The young teachers with whom I was visiting after school on Friday are right. We get so busy making sure no child is left behind, making sure we are current and using best practices, trying to prioritize our yellow sticky notes, printing our email because we don't have time to read it right then, and simply caring for the reason we do what we do---caring for children, that we never seem to be able to take a moment for each other. It is re-energizing to do that."
Maybe it is my age, maybe it is because another school year seems to be rapidly passing, or maybe it is the time of the year, but the only mini (but vital) nugget that I can give you, my colleagues and friends, is to remind you to take a moment. More and more, I appreciate that life is about relationships and it is through the moments that we make a difference not only for ourselves but also for others. It is with moments that we bless and are blessed.