Faye Harris: Life really is a school
You are responsible for yourself. What you allow into your body and mind decides your destiny.
No one is more important than any other. Whether we are a president, a member of the royal family, an actor/actress, or a ditch digger, all are necessary for our school and our world to function. Life is a school and there are many grades we must pass through before we graduate.
While one person may seem more important than another, the job you are doing is as important as that of anyone else. And because of our frame of mind, what we ultimately become is initiated by what we learn from our surroundings, so it is important that we choose these things wisely. (We can blame others for our being in the wrong place at the wrong time...but that decision is most often chosen by ourselves.)
Love is a gift we both give and receive. It is a slice of what some call heaven. We all would like to achieve this grade. Hard work can be achieved through use of the mind (as the solution to our COVID problem came) or it can be physical. It can often come about through the use of both the mental and physical ‘muscles’ as was Mount Rushmore.
As in any school, we can influence others by our thoughts and actions. Raising children may be the greatest accomplishment we’ll ever do. Mom and dad can’t do their job by just feeding, clothing and housing their kids. Being a good example is probably more important than giving them steak for dinner instead of hot dogs.
To prove the point that we are all in charge of ourselves regardless of race, creed or our status in life, consider George Washington Carver. A slave, this man eventually developed over 300 items from peanuts. Although being born to a slave couple, then being stolen and bought back, he proved that one’s race is immaterial in achieving success.
Another lesson we must learn in life school is that bragging on our accomplishments turns people off, until they don’t care to associate with us while being a good example encourages others to want to be like us. Actions do speak louder than words!
Life is a school. The only thing we really know is that we know very little with any degree of certainty. The only real ‘certain’ thing we learn is change is inevitable. Everyone experiences humiliation, embarrassment, enjoyment, fun, love, frightening times as they change from grade (age) to grade (age). School is open 24 hours a day. I’ve found things I concentrate on often reappear in my dreams and I am the main actor! Life really is a school, life is a cabaret old chum, come to the cabaret!
With any school, there are many parts to the day. It’s like the human body with all of its various organs. If one part gets sick, the whole thing suffers. If I mess up in one area of my life, the whole thing doesn’t seem right until I right the wrong.
We are not alone in this school, either. Other things can mess up our grade. After my husband died, a middle school in Alabama hired me to teach art that kept loneliness at bay for a while. Then COVID came into this physical school uninvited. Schools closed and I was alone again.
“Now” I asked the powers that be, “What’s a person to do?” That’s when (after two years of trying to keep busy while trying to stay away from others) I met Bud.
I’m not sure whether I passed to a different grade or whether it’s getting near graduation time for me, but one thing’s for certain: Life will take care of any of our needs. We just have to go with the flow; we all have a tour of duty, but in the end we are just along for the ride.
Enjoy this special gift. Of all the sperm that could have become somebody, you were chosen to enter school. Make the most of it.
Faye Harris is a former Lenawee County resident who retired from North Adams Schools. She can be reached at fayeharris77@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Faye Harris column: Life really is a school
