From Valley to Victory

"One sees great things from the valley: only small things from the peak."

 G. K. Chesterton

Take a moment to visualize a valley in the landscape. You will see a hill that reaches a peak then slopes downward into a ditch. But if there’s another hill, then the land comes back up to a peak, which may be higher than the last, only to go back down again. 

Similarly, think about a roller coaster; it creeps up to its highest point and then all of a sudden, it speeds downward, making you scream in fear before it returns to another high point, only to go back down to the low point again. You can feel the drop in your stomach, as you reach the bottom of the hill. I hate that feeling and at times life can be frightening like that, too.

The way you choose to respond when you are in a valley will shape your character.  Everyone will have to go through difficult times that test your values and force you to use your voice. It is often said that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it. The response matters and you ALWAYS have a choice regarding how you will respond to any situation. You decide what you will say and what you will do. 

The valley is not the end of your story, simply one piece of it that helps shape who you are. Your approach and response to the valleys ultimately determine your success. Either you move forward through the struggle or dig deeper into the ditch. Those dark valleys will teach you some valuable lessons that you will have the rest of your life.

How do we teach our students to come out of their valleys and deal with their valleys? Too often the only response to the valley our students conceive end up taking them deeper. They may not have been taught that they have the power to take actions that can create different results in their lives. Through brokeness and lack of compassion our students end up perpetuating the hurt in their lives by imposing it on others. 

This cycle then falsely becomes the norm and ironically peace of spirit becomes an anomaly.  Let’s strive to provide our students with opportunities to learn the necessary life skills to deal with conflicts, disappointments, and difficult situations. Considering a new value system, having supportive voices and creating a vision for students to focus on offers varying perspectives that potentially have the power to alter the course of their lives.

KEEP GIVING,
Angela R. Lewis