Sunday, October 24, 2010

What's Your Sentence?

I recently read an article by Dan Pink in which he asked the question, "What is your sentence?" In the article, Dan asked his readers to think about who they are and what they hope to be remembered for, then come up with one sentence that sums up who they are. Watch the following short video to see what I mean.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

That got me to thinking. Who am I? What DO I want people to remember me for? Those are tough questions. So I'm going to write my answers here and see if I can come up a sentence that sums up who I am and what I stand for.

I am a teacher. I eat, sleep, drink, and breathe teaching. No, I'm not obsessed with teaching. I'm simply a teacher at heart and have been since I was 7 or 8 years old. Now, 40+ years later, everything I do centers around the concept of teaching. Yes, teaching is what I do for a profession, so I spend a great deal of my time in that role, but I'm a teacher above and beyond that. "How?" you ask. Well, the answer to that question is twofold: 1) I am a constant learner. I strive to continually increase my knowledge base so that I, in turn, can pass that new knowledge on to those around me. In this day and age, information is available at the touch of a button. So I spend as much of my free time searching the Internet for new ideas, new tools, and new information to make me a better learner which will ultimately make me a better teacher. Then I take that knowledge and I share it with others whenever the opportunity arises. While some choose to harbor their wisdom, I choose to impart it. 2) I am a mother, and that's what mothers do. TEACH. While my children are now grown and living on their own, I still make it a priority to instruct them whenever I can. The key to this is knowing WHEN, however. Of course, if my children aren't around to garner my words of wisdom, I can always find someone else's child to fill the void.

So now I guess it is time to write my sentence...

"She made the teaching of others her life's mission."

What's YOUR sentence?

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