Week3_Comment2

Quoting the original Angela Dixon: 


"...because one of her lovely teacher cast a dark shadow over my daughter's head and told her "if you become a doctor then everyone will die!"  My daughter never told me what that teacher said until years later for the fear of what I may have done.  In the book of The Art of Possibility it talked about a child is an exquisite attention-getting device.  (p. 82).  A child relies on strong leadership to help children to discover who they are and achieve their goals.  However, when that leaders or role models shatter a child’s dreams it affects them.  In adulthood, unless the child has a strong will, they grow up not fulfilling their goals and live their life in a box..."


I said: 


Oh Angela, I cringed when I read this. As a teacher, I'm amazed at how much "power" our words have! Most of the time I don't think my students listen to me, but then there are a few things that  they bring back a few days, weeks, months later! They were listening! Far too often, we (I) forget that students DO listen! What a sad day it is when a teacher dismisses the dreams of his/her student(s). Maybe this is where Zander mentioned the "giving an A" would change the perception the teacher had of his/her student (your daughter). It saddens me to think of what could have been if (ONLY IF) the teacher had given your daughter and A that day! 


Zander also asked, "Who am I being that my "people's" eyes aren't shining?" Your daughter's eyes were not shining that day! 


I just pray that your daughter has worked through that devastation and can follow her dream (original or new). 


 I like the Rule Number 6 “Don’t take yourself so seriously” because I spent most of my life trying to fit in or live my life to someone else expectation. During my undergraduate days I tried to be an overachiever and constantly let myself down.  I had to do a calculating self and ask myself “Why am I not aiming for my goal and what can I do to change this problem?” Once I stop taking life so seriously that’s when I was able to aim for my goal without stressing myself out.  I changed the way I thought of myself from the scarfs of my childhood life and realizing only I control my path.