Comfortable with fumbles

One reason I absolutely love my job is that I am constantly humbled. Let me explain. I think of myself as a talented and educated human being and yet daily (yes, daily) I am reminded of how much I still need to learn.  I am also reminded of how much we can teach each other, if we remain open to that concept.

As an educator, I am sometimes (well, always) expected to be able to respond, answer and teach within a moments notice; and I can usually rise to the challenge.  It is in the moments that I am unable to rise to these challenges that my greatest growth is realized.  Is this true for you?

Yesterday, I was helping a student find titles of books for a book club that she is facilitating. As I was helping her, I was able to give her several great resources so that she could learn how to sustain her reading over her adult lifetime.  She asked me a question, that I felt unprepared for. She asked a question that most librarians would probably love to be asked and yet, I fumbled.

The question doesn't matter. How I handled the fumble does. It matters to me and it matters to my students and it should matter to you.  Here's why.  How I react to my own inadequacies, paves the way for how willing my students will be to do the same. Isn't this what we are striving for? A population of students who are willing to think, innovate, and create? A population of students who are willing to make mistakes, acknowledge their weaknessses and be willing to grow through them?

It is with this that I say to you today, celebrate your weaknesses; take comfort in them.  Be humble and be inspired to grow through them, each and every day.