Keep Right — Column by Ralph K. Ginorio
As a teacher, at this time of year I cannot help but think about the opportunities that will be presented to all of us in the coming school year. Between now and next June, we will each struggle to overcome adversity, stand up for what we believe in, and make our dreams come true.
While the past lives on in memory and the future tantalizes with possibility, all that we really have is this elusive moment. We have been granted both existence and volition at this precise moment. More than anything else, what we do with this opportunity reveals who we are.
Anxiousness can blight the possibilities that life offers. While a degree of caution helps us to clearly recognize what we must do in pursuit of success, excessive worry should be rejected as a trap.
Another source of frustrated hope is perfectionism. No practicing artist, professional writer, dancer, or working actor ever thrived by waiting to practice his or her art. This is true about all difficult effort. Every individual who has ever tried to make a personal contribution with their talent has had to force him or herself to boldly step from obscurity into either ridicule or success; often both.
Waiting for “the right moment”, for perfection to suddenly manifest, is a sure way to squander opportunities. When we inertly dream, life slips away. In such a state, we never fail because we never really try.
The opportune moment must be seized, despite all shyness and self-doubt! Failure is a great teacher, the best teacher really! No one ever succeeds without failure. There is no “right time.” There is only now, and what we do with it.
In the precious moments that I am granted to teach High School students the history of Western Civilization, I try to also offer these few insights about life for their consideration.
It is best to step into the arena and try to make a contribution. Be a participant, not a mere spectator and certainly not a critic!
Be patient. It takes years to accommodate oneself to adulthood. Give yourself the latitude to discover how best to pursue your dreams at your own pace and in your own way.
Expect failure. Failure forces each of us out of our comfort-zones, demanding that we become better, stronger, wiser, and more effective.
Failure teaches us what we need to change and what we should preserve. None of us are “good enough” as we now are. We all have need of further refining. Each of us can become better, if we are willing to be honestly but fairly self-critical.
Trust that you will learn to contribute, to achieve, to create, and to love! Do not assume that a failure to achieve some particular success by an arbitrary time means that you have definitively failed. Most of us get as many chances to overcome any obstacle as we are willing to take.
Be open to the possibilities that present themselves, even if they were not a part of your original conception. A destiny may await that you could never have credibly imagined for yourself.
Be tough and determined. Keep faith with yourself, your truth, and your God. Integrity is the gift that a person gives to him or herself.
Preserve your innocence as you cultivate your worldly wisdom. Innocence gives us the capacity to wonder, to be curious, and to truly hope. Wisdom gained through experience need not steal those precious qualities from any person.
Be brave. Freedom, the ability to determine your own words, actions, and goals despite whatever the world around you may indicate, is only for the brave.
Avoid recklessness, which can bring premature and needless destruction. Avoid regret, which often comes from being too timid to live according to the dictates of your conscience and your own best judgment.
If you do all these things, even if only some of the time, you will be choosing in the precious moments that you are given to live a life that is worth living!
