The Stress Is Worth It

Good morning, God, and thanks for this new day! We're in our third day of the new semester now, and the stress has kicked in--waking up at 2 in the morning, my mind all over the place getting things ready, trying to remember new names of new people, feeling the pressure of wanting to make sure that my students' experiences are worth their while. But it's a stress that's definitely worth it, of course. Teaching is what I've chosen to do, and I'm pretty good at it. And teaching allows me to make a positive contribution to the lives of other people--and a contribution that isn't limited to just the people in my classrooms. I may wake up in the middle of the night and I may spend hours on things that I'd prefer not to spend hours on, but it definitely is worth it--to me and, I hope, to the students in my classes.

The stress is here, I know it, and I hope that I'm able to deal with it effectively so that it doesn't make me less effective in the class. I hope that it makes me a better teacher, not a burned-out teacher. I'd prefer to sleep the night through, but during the school year I very often don't, even after as many years as I've been at this. So please be with me this semester--and every time I step into the role of teacher--and help me to give my students what they really need and more, and help me to deal with the stress so that my students never notice that I'm dealing with it. Thanks!

A reply:

You're welcome. It's gratifying to hear that you love teaching, for it is an important gift of yours, and one that's necessary among human beings. The fact that you take it seriously and that you stay focused on the students is very important, as you well know--you've had those teachers who simply didn't care and seemed to just be making a paycheck. You got very little out of their classes, and you don't want to do that to your students.

The stress is another issue. Perhaps it's time that you start taking seriously some of the stress-reducing techniques that other people have developed. They're out there, many of them, and they're not that difficult or time-consuming to do. One of your problems is that you don't tend to feel stress as stress--in fact, you thrive in stressful situations, so you often mistake them for things going just right. And things may be going just right, but still be stressful. Think about how you grew up and how predominant stress was in your life, and how you got "used" to it. Yes, you do know how to relax, but you're also very good at functioning just fine--even at a higher level--when things get terribly stressful. That, too, is a gift, but not one that you've learned to compensate for in other ways. It's like when you run a race--you run slower when you're running a 10k than you do when you're running a 5k because you need to pace yourself and save something for the end of the race.

But in your stressful situations, you're not able to pace yourself. You have to do what you have to do. So it's important that you find other things that will help you to deal with the stress so that you'll be saving something for later. Yes, you have your running, and that is helpful, but you run even when you're not under stress. It's not something you do specifically for stress. If you do find something for stress, such as some sort of exercise, meditation, or hobby, I think you'll find that your sleepless nights are fewer and your ability to be effective in the classroom even higher.

It's something for you to consider, at least. Enjoy the semester, enjoy the students, and enjoy your experiences.