Quote-A-Day: Day 80

If it wasn't for the bad times, we wouldn't know to #celebrate the good ones. #edchat #edu #QuoteADay #Day80 #LetsCelebrate

Life is full of ups and downs.  The goal is to struggle through the down times so we can make it to the up ones.  It isn't always easy, nor should it be.  After all, if we didn't realize the challenges of the bad times, we wouldn't be able to truly enjoy the times that are good.

As leaders and learners, we've all had those days that are truly horrible.  Sometimes it is due to one terrible scenario, other times it is due to a number of much smaller items that add up to put a negative spin on things. Getting past these days (and/or weeks or months) can be extremely challenging.

But, our grit, and our perseverance, allow us to soldier on, and either individually, or with the help of those around us, we make it through.

These rough times are counter-balanced by the times that are incredibly good, where things seem to go exactly the way we hoped or better, and we feel that all is right with the world.

Interestingly, if we didn't have such a large dichotomy in how things "happened," it is unlikely we would be able to truly celebrate the great occurrences in our lives.

We must make sure that those we work and live with understand the importance of this idea.  No one can avoid bad things.  But we can all celebrate the good.

I had an opportunity yesterday to emcee a Young Authors Conference at Westchester Community College.  Students from the tri-state area joined us to celebrate writing and the written word.  We had presenters who were authors, editors, film producers, and more, all working with high school students to further hone their craft.

Seeing how happy and engaged each student was proves my point about the good and the bad.  No matter how challenging this week might have been for the students in attendance, this opportunity to celebrate the good, shifted their thinking to the positive.  I did not see one sullen student leaving the conference yesterday afternoon.

We need to think this same way.  We need the yin as well as the yang.

Presenter Darell Swann discussing screenwriting with students.

Students conducting pre-reading of another participants script.