In a recent episode of The Happiness Project podcast, Dr. Laurie Santos identified life satisfaction by having 2 things: Being happy IN your life and WITH your life. IN your life means you can keep a pretty healthy ratio of the good stuff and the hard stuff and WITH your life is a general sense that although there are challenges, moreover, you think your life is going pretty well – we are living a life with purpose and meaning.
And that brings us to a recent social media trend I’ve noticed. It’s when you see a post that declares, “RICH BECAUSE…” and then someone shares the extraordinarily ordinary things in their life that bring meaning, purpose, and joy and make them feel like the richest person in the world. My favorite one is a video of this huge fancy yacht in the background with the text “rich because” and initially, we assume it’s the yacht that makes the person rich. But then the camera zooms into in front of that big yacht and shows a grandfather quietly bouncing a ball to his granddaughter on the pier. The richness wasn’t that showy yacht, it was the quiet moment tucked in around it.
Rich?! Welp. If you are in education, chances are you aren’t rich from the dollars you earn. BUT I can’t stop thinking about what is uniquely special about our profession that other folks don’t get.
We are rich because…
- Our job is hope in action.
- We are trajectory changers for countless lives.
- We have work besties that give us the capacity to do this important work.
- We are eyewitnesses right alongside a student when they finally “get it.”
- We have multiple opportunities every single day to say the right thing to the right kid at the right time that will ultimately make their life better someday.
- We watch kids walk into our classrooms one way academically, socially, and emotionally in September, and then watch the same group of kids walk out at the end of the year with changed minds, changed hearts, and new eyes.
- Creativity is a part of our everyday work
- Our students will give us a random note, piece of artwork, email, or passing exchange that quietly reminds us our work and presence makes an impact
- We create the conditions for students to feel challenge, success, and love every day under our care.
- Kids and families get all jazzed up when they see our name on their new schedule.
- We hear from our students when they are grown – attending sports events, graduations, weddings, we hold their babies; after we nurture them in the classroom we get to celebrate their lives outside of the classroom.
- Most of the time when we say, “I am a teacher” we are met with respect and value.
- We have the autonomy to personalize our working space to look and feel a way we find comfortable and happy.
- We get a well-deserved summer each year to catch our breath.
- We have a chance to reset professionally every single year.
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This Teach Happier is not a space for toxic positivity. Our job is hard. It’s tiring. It can be frustrating and draining. But we can’t catch what we don’t chase, and if we continue to chase happiness and joy this school year, I choose to search and find the glimmers for the things that make us feel rich in our vocation. Where can we find the quiet moments of good tucked within our days?
Try it!
Maybe you can try this exercise of “I am rich because…” Or perhaps it’s something your new class could try. It just a way of reminding ourselves that we can find good IN our life and WITH our life, living a life of purpose and meaning.
As Buddhist monk Tic Nah Han reminds us, “They don’t publish the good news; the good news is published by us.”
What makes you feel rich?
Small Shifts, BIG Gifts!
How can you scan for the good and find the uniquely special things about your job that makes you feel rich? When you try this, see if it helps move the dial in your happiness.
About Suzanne Dailey
Suzanne Dailey is a proud member of the Teach Better Family! She is an instructional coach in the Central Bucks School District where she has the honor and joy of working with elementary teachers and students in 15 buildings. Suzanne is Nationally Board Certified, a Fellow of the National Writing Project, and has a master’s degree in Reading. She is dedicated to nurturing and developing the whole child and teacher. Suzanne lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
Check out the Teach Happier Podcast here!
