Sometimes Hindsight is 20/80
The saying "Hindsight is 20/20" sounds great and is very often true. But, I find that sometimes hindsight is blurry, like the vision of someone with a serious cataract. Sometimes hindsight is 20/80.
I (Tina) worked for a private, Christian school for six years. I was the guidance counselor. I loved that job and would happily go back if we ever move back to that city. My students were great and I had great relationships with many of them. Aside from being a guidance counselor I taught senior Bible and high school drama. I was able to be a class sponsor and Student Council sponsor for several years while I was there. As class sponsor I was able to travel on the senior mission trips taken to Toronto and Belize. My drama Lovelies produced three comedies and two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. While in that job I made a plethora of memories that I will always cherish.
Unfortunately, not everyone shares my fond remembrance of that school. Tonight while on Facebook I saw a conversation string about this particular school and many of the comments were about how these former students had basically no good memories to look back upon. They claim that this particular school gave them nothing and did not prepare them well for their experiences in college. Really? I wonder, was their experience really so terrible as all that? They had small class sizes, teachers who cared about them, opportunities to be participate in activities like drama or sports or be part of an award-winning choir. While kids in area schools were cut from sports teams, our students all had opportunities to compete. Everyone who participated in drama had a part in our plays. Was the school perfect? No. But no school is perfect.
Why then is their view in hindsight so negative? I believe it was a culture of negativity in this particular cohort of students. While they were in high school they were generally prone to see the glass as half empty. In the moment they had fun, had lots of friends, had good relationships with their teachers, and were involved in lots of activities. But even with all those positivies, they were focused on how much they hated the dress code or how unfair it was that our school didn't have a dance for prom or how cruel it was that we made them wear lanyards. When viewed through poop-colored lenses, the school I loved was seen by these particular students as being full of....well, you can imagine what they thought. Their negativity was contagious and seeped over into others and the climate of negativity was hard to escape. Even now, reading this Facebook conversation has caused me to question all that I thought was true of my own experiences. Did I really enjoy it as much as I remember?
There's a lesson to be learned here. I don't want to view my world with poop-colored glasses. I don't want negativity in my attitude to cause my hindsight to be a blurry mess. There are so many blessings around me and I want to enjoy them now...and as I look back at them later.
I (Tina) worked for a private, Christian school for six years. I was the guidance counselor. I loved that job and would happily go back if we ever move back to that city. My students were great and I had great relationships with many of them. Aside from being a guidance counselor I taught senior Bible and high school drama. I was able to be a class sponsor and Student Council sponsor for several years while I was there. As class sponsor I was able to travel on the senior mission trips taken to Toronto and Belize. My drama Lovelies produced three comedies and two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. While in that job I made a plethora of memories that I will always cherish.
Unfortunately, not everyone shares my fond remembrance of that school. Tonight while on Facebook I saw a conversation string about this particular school and many of the comments were about how these former students had basically no good memories to look back upon. They claim that this particular school gave them nothing and did not prepare them well for their experiences in college. Really? I wonder, was their experience really so terrible as all that? They had small class sizes, teachers who cared about them, opportunities to be participate in activities like drama or sports or be part of an award-winning choir. While kids in area schools were cut from sports teams, our students all had opportunities to compete. Everyone who participated in drama had a part in our plays. Was the school perfect? No. But no school is perfect.
Why then is their view in hindsight so negative? I believe it was a culture of negativity in this particular cohort of students. While they were in high school they were generally prone to see the glass as half empty. In the moment they had fun, had lots of friends, had good relationships with their teachers, and were involved in lots of activities. But even with all those positivies, they were focused on how much they hated the dress code or how unfair it was that our school didn't have a dance for prom or how cruel it was that we made them wear lanyards. When viewed through poop-colored lenses, the school I loved was seen by these particular students as being full of....well, you can imagine what they thought. Their negativity was contagious and seeped over into others and the climate of negativity was hard to escape. Even now, reading this Facebook conversation has caused me to question all that I thought was true of my own experiences. Did I really enjoy it as much as I remember?
There's a lesson to be learned here. I don't want to view my world with poop-colored glasses. I don't want negativity in my attitude to cause my hindsight to be a blurry mess. There are so many blessings around me and I want to enjoy them now...and as I look back at them later.
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