Health is Wealth

As I type this, I’m sucking on a cough drop and have my hot green tea and tissues on hand. Fortunately, I’m recovering from a simple head cold and not the flu, which is apparently a very bad strain this year. I also was texting with a friend this morning who is beginning treatment for colon cancer. She is the third person I know currently with this diagnosis. My mom and another friend are both recovering from surgery this week. And, later today, I will be attending another funeral, that is the second one this month. (The silver lining is both of them lived exceptionally long healthy lives, one of them was 102!!).

All of this has prompted reflection on the importance of being healthy. Recently I saw a statement previously shared by the Dalai Lama "Man... sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present….”

If you are in the field of education, chances are you aren’t necessarily sacrificing your health for wealth. We know educators are not compensated fairly for all they give to their profession. However, educators do sacrifice their health, often for the betterment of their students and because of the work environment in which they find themselves. This is the conundrum for me, someone who works closely with educators but is not directly in a school or classroom. What is the real determining factor in the burn out and/or exhaustion of educators? How much of it is the students and their behavior? How much of it is the lack of supports and resources for the students and/or the adults that work with them? How much of it is other adult behaviors that negatively impact the work environment? How much of it is demands of parents/caregivers? How much is it related to the requirements of the state or other administrators? It could be all of those factors, to some degree or another depending on your school community. But then here is the hard question, how much of it is of their own doing? Sometimes I know I can be my own worst enemy. I place expectations on myself that no one else has for me. I tell myself that I “have to do ____ in X amount of time. It’s a must! It’s urgent! Others are waiting on me to do….”  These are the stories I tell myself. Yet are these true? This is where the real work can happen. We may not be able to control those other conditions, like students’ behavior, parents/caregiver engagement, administrative requirements but we can determine the pressure we put on ourselves and how we respond in those situations.

I do a lot to prevent getting sick. I work hard to avoid germs and contaminants. I focus on healthy foods (most of the time) and staying active. I attempt to get consistent sleep and take my vitamins. If I’m willing to do all of that for my physical health, I should be equally committed to my emotional health and wellness. When we find ourselves in a health-compromised situation it’s amazing how all those other “priorities” fade and our sole focus is on getting better. My encouragement to you is to make this same commitment to your emotional well-being. Let that be a focus too. As we begin a new year, let’s find ways to set boundaries, be intentional about how we spend our energy so we can preserve our good health, which affords us happier and “wealthier” days ahead.