We Do Hard Things!

It was with excitement that I opened a brand new puzzle during the break. It had been a long time since I had given myself the time and space to work on something like this, and the winter holiday seemed like the perfect time to stay indoors and complete the task. Within moments of opening the box and seeing the tiny puzzle pieces all over the table, I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the task – the sorting, the searching and the selecting! 

To be honest, there was a moment when I nearly convinced myself that it was going to be too hard, take too long, and I could do other better things with my time….but that would be giving in and, ultimately, defeat! Instead, I set about with determination, patience and a realistic view on the time I had available, and set about to work towards completion.

It took me days! There were parts of the puzzle that were clear, and easy to put together. There were others that required a lot of patience as I searched for that ‘perfect blue piece’ to add to the skyline. There were moments when I was happy to work by myself. There were others when I appreciated another person’s eyes to see things differently, and I welcomed their help with the most challenging parts. 

Once the puzzle was finally completed, the feeling was deeply satisfying – and I kept it on the table for a few days as a reminder of the time, effort and persistence that had been required.

Everyday our students are faced with opportunities to grow and learn. School is a place where learning is happening all the time – formally with teachers, and informally in the classroom or playground, and daily our young learners are faced with new and challenging things and situations to overcome and learn through.

Just as our muscles develop when we work out physically, our resilience grows as we embrace opportunities to develop our skills, passions and talents. This term, our wellbeing focus is encouraging our students to do hard things, seeing every experience as a chance to grow, to learn and to improve.

Growing resilience takes time, and it requires patience, perseverance and practice. As our students learn to take one step at a time on the learning journey, they are taking positive steps towards embracing hard things, pushing through hard times, and learning in the hard moments. At times, they need to learn to do this alone. At other times, they will need the help and support of family, teachers or friends. Either way, little bit by little bit is a chance to flex our resilience muscles – one step at a time!

What a privilege it is to be the support, the encourager and the champion of our young learners as they grow their resilience and learn to do hard things. And what a blessing it will be to see a generation of young people to embrace life's challenge with the confidence that comes from knowing that ‘they can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Philippians 4:13