Challenges. Bumpy roads. Hard days. Moments of despair. Shortcomings. Mistakes. Hard lessons learned. Feelings of failure. We all have them, especially as teachers and parents… you know, those people who are responsible for teaching and raising children so that they become the best versions of themselves, so that they learn how to pursue their passions and grow all ways and always, so they contribute to society in a positive way, oh, and so that they are all around kind, caring, and happy people? No pressure.

Challenges are bound to happen, to us, to our students, and to our children. How we react to them is important. What do our students see? They are sponges: monkey see, monkey do! Are we trying to limit challenges, or are we modelling risk taking and showing our students our struggles and how we tackle them head on? Showing those around us how challenges stretch us and help us grow needs to be a priority if we want them to do the same. Often though, we’d rather hide our failures because we are embarrassed, or worse yet, stay in our comfort zones to avoid the possibility of failure, yet we expect the opposite from our students. If we want them to take the leap, we have to, too!

This weekend, I was walking with my family in the MS Walk, and this sign stopped me dead in my tracks, so much so that I had one of my boys stand next to it so I could grab a picture as a constant reminder!

Use your challenges to your advantage. Don’t try to avoid them, or limit them; embrace them, seek them out, and let them lead you beyond your wildest dreams… because if you are brave enough to challenge your limits, and you are, amazing things will be waiting for you! Get after it!

A very special shout out to my sister, Lisa, who continues to show me how she challenges limits while living with MS! Je t’aime.