Use Pencil


Mr. K was the principal at my kid’s K-12 school. He seemed to have a permanently delightful disposition. He gave away smiles and kind words to everyone he met. He’d encourage young readers by wearing his Cat in the Hat costume, and then subject himself to all manner of good-natured stunts if the kids surpassed their goals—from haircuts, to dance routines, and weird outfits. He was just as kind and helpful with the middle and high school students too.


I had scheduled a meeting with Mr. K to talk about my son’s last few years of high school. I was seeking a strategy for making good plans. It seemed that the decisions made now could change the outcome of his future. If I didn’t make solid plans, who would?


Mr. K leaned forward in his chair, and in the most congenial way possible said, “In making plans for the future, always use pencil.”


That one sentence was packed with such truth. For me, someone who always needed to make plans, and then map it all out, using pencil seemed a whole lot less stressful. Mr. K had seen plenty of students change their plans as the future came.



Using pencil helped my adult kids as their plans changed. They learned this well before I ever did. 


I think I was over fifty years old when I finally put down my pen and started using a pencil. Life changes things, indelible pens don’t work for me anymore. 


As we look to 2023, may it bring you plenty of great possibilities. And if you need an extra pencil, I have one—and an eraser.


Happy New Year, my friends!


I also give my heartfelt acknowledgement to the family of Mr. Douglas Kubalek who passed on far too soon in August 2006. He touched hundreds and hundreds of lives throughout his career.


Photos from Crescent School Facebook page.

Popular posts from this blog

Dreaming the Dream

Image
Dreaming big dreams about the future is easy for kids. The only thing standing in the way is time.  Kid’s dreams are not about skills, or opportunities, or even practicality. Those things come much later.  My grandson hopes to be professional soccer player when he grows up. This week, a small piece of his dream came true when his Boys and Girls Club was invited to participate in pre-game activities with the Seattle Sounders Football Club.  He got to suit up in a real jersey and walk on the field with a real pro player. Imagine a young soccer player looking up to who he hopes to be one day. If you haven’t taken the time to talk to a child about their future dreams—you should.  They believe. As we get older we sometimes forget that dreams fuel our hopes—and that's something we all need. So, do you still dream? Or have you left those childhood thoughts behind?  S pending time with children will  inspire you to believe agai
Read more

Wild or Tame? Which One Are You?

Image
Finally! Research that explains why I act the way I do. Columbia University’s Motivational Science Center studied people’s activities and what brought them the most happiness. Even more telling were how those activities changed as they aged. Twenty-somethings tend to equate happiness with high-energy activities. Words like excited and ecstatic are usually attached to spontaneous things—even risky things—and living life full throttle.  Researchers labeled this Promotion Motivation —the urge to take chances, including career moves that may not work out. Happiness comes from happenings—the more happenings, the more happiness. By age forty, adults associate happiness with things running smoothly at work and home. It’s also about feeling secure in relationships. Keeping healthy matters more too. This behavior is called Prevention Motivation —and people are more concerned with preserving and maintaining the things they value. It appears that time ofte
Read more

The Quiet Dad

Image
After my granddaughter’s gymnastics, she’d always ask to go to the park next door—even in the winter. When you’re a high energy child, cold is relative. Our routine seemed to overlap with a dad and his son. I’d watch them as I watched my granddaughter go through her favorite activities—crossbar, swings, spinner, and the curly slide.  But the dad was not doing the same. He’d go hand-in-hand with his boy—pointing to trees, clouds, and the texture of the grass. I could see they were in a different place—one of sights, smells, and feels.   His son didn’t speak, so the father spoke into the silence around them. Since it was winter, the park was quiet—just the four of us—an energetic girl, and a boy who experienced the park in a way I never had.   We were at the same place, but in different worlds.    I saw a father’s love for his son expressed in quiet words of exploration. Never once did his son use the swing or try the crossbars. His world was spent touching tree bark and looking a
Read more