The Lesson Of Grace In Teaching

I don’t have to be “the best”.  I can stop being so hard on myself.  I can have a healthy ambition without competition: striving towards goals, without having to compare myself to other people.  I can be happy for another person’s success.  I can be appropriately open and authentic---I don’t have to fear showing weakness.  Because my worthiness isn’t earned, there’s no need and no room for pretense.  I can stop worrying about what others will think of me, if I believe the lesson of grace. - The Mathematical Yawp Blog

Treating Others With Grace

I recently read a blog post shared by a friend on Facebook that was touching and moving and made you think.  The blog post was The Lesson Of Grace In Teaching.  All too often it seems like we are all focused on destroying one another to get ahead or to show others that we are somehow superior.  However, we often miss the mark when it comes to treating others with grace. While the blog post I'm referencing here is about teaching, I believe it applies to every facet of life and how we treat others.

Many years ago, I struggled hard with math and in fact I have written about it at times on this blog.  If you would like to read these earlier posts, you can check out the topic, Math Is Hard.

During a time where a family member was raping and abusing me, my 6 year old mind and body could not grasp the concept of first grade math.  The teacher did not know what to do with me and so she would put me in the corner of the room with scissors, glue, construction paper and tape just to have fun doing whatever I wanted to do during math class time.  As long as I kept myself entertained and quiet, she was happy.  Unfortunately when my parents found out, I ended up being moved back to Kindergarten.  I don't recall most of this, but I wonder if the teacher would have treated me with a little more respect or even the family member that was abusing and raping me stopped this behavior, would things have turned out differently?