Fueling your Fire

I love the Natalie Grant song "Burn Bright". It came along at a point last year when I needed to be reminded of the message within it. This morning while scrolling through my NewsFeed I ran across this quote from Todd Nesloney. This rocked my world in a good way this morning. I'm three weeks into my 10th year teaching and I'm already tired. I'm already at the point where I feel like I have given out more than I have to give...you know the moments I'm talking about teachers. The moment when you feel like the Energizer bunny has already been wound as tight as it can go and the battery is about to need charging. Then I read this quote and started thinking....

As educators, as people in general we have to protect our flames. I'm not much of a camper, but I do remember a few fire pits over the years. The fire dies out when the coals grow cold or the wood becomes wet. Protect your flame, so that spark continues. There will always be ones who want to speak negatively, find fault, complain, or share criticism. Pleasing everyone is an impossible task. Words that help you grow, even constructively are beneficial, words that tear down are similar to wet wood and cool coals. Protect your flame but not allowing those to linger on your fire and smothering your flame.

We are all going to have times where we feel like the roaring fire and moments where we will like the flickering spark. It's natural, but it's what we do in those moments that determine whether or not the fire continues to burn or begins to smolder. On the days when the fire is roaring, share it with others. On the days when the fire is just a flickering spark, find something to fuel that fire. As teachers, we do what we do because we of the students. Some days the students can fuel that spark without even knowing it. Those light bulb moments that remind you why you went into teaching, that former student that comes back just to say thank you, that parent that reminds you of the difference you made, or even that colleague that says I appreciate you. We can also fuel our fires by connecting with those who are burning bright as well. Find someone to connect with that shares the same passion that you do. It may be someone you teach with at your school, in your system, or simply someone who you connect with via social media. Twitter is a powerful connector of educators who want to continue to fuel their fire. If you haven't joined or are still in the lurking phase, jump in and start adding to the knowledge that is being shared. You may be the one that fuels another educator's fire.