It’s amazing how a change in weather can have such a drastic impact on us. Yesterday, spring was out in full force. Birds were chirping, the breeze was warm, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. I’ve written before about how drastically weather can impact us. What is also fascinating is how changes in weather don’t just impact our moods, but also lead to other changes too. For instance:
· Allergies plague our family quite a bit. We welcome the great weather, but lament the pollen and all that it does to us. We must remember in our work and in our personal lives that what seems a positive change for many may also come with its own negative complications. And we must be understanding that for some, it is hard to get in a great mood when they feel worse than when the weather was nowhere near as good!
· “More time to work, less time to sleep” could be a true saying in our family. My kids are activated by the light, and here in the New York City area, spring to summer means earlier sunrises and later sunsets. More light time is great as it allows us to do so much more during the day. But, it also means my kids are getting up earlier and also going to bed later. Sleep, whether we love it or not, makes us much more effective learners and leaders, so when we have less of it, we are never as good as we could be otherwise.
· Seasonal shifts also require the shifting of resources. While in winter I have to make sure that my snow blower is always at the ready, in the spring and summer I have to make sure my sprinklers are in tip-top shape. Some of us are better at maintaining certain types of things than to others. While we might be prepared to handle some aspects in one season, things may be much tougher for us in another.
The key, of course, is to remember that a switch of anything, whether it be weather, staff, students, location, etc. is neither good nor bad. Instead, it is all about how it impacts each and every one of us, and as such, the best leaders and learners remember that while they can celebrate changes that are victories to them, they must be cognizant and supportive of those for whom the victory is quite the opposite.