Look for the Helpers
I addressed a group of 11 year olds today and asked them what's new. Immediately students began talking about the bombing in Boston, and to be honest I'd hoped they'd bring it up. When terrible things like this happen, when it's so hard for us as adults to wrap our minds around it all, imagine what kids must be feeling. Our TV channels or websites that we follow are constantly updating us on news around the world, and I know I'm usually glued to the screen when a crisis like this occurs.
I caught a video post by Amy Poeler who spoke on her webcam about being careful of our hearts and what kind of images we expose ourselves to. I stumbled onto a picture of a Boston victim with his legs blown off and blood and tendons spilling everywhere and I will never be able to wipe that from my mind. I've seen pictures of dead bodies and decapitations and lots of other horrible things, not because I'm seeking it out but because it's so easy to come across.
So when I saw someone had shared the Mr. Rogers quote about looking for the helpers, I knew that was the message I wanted to bring to my students... and the more I talked about it today the more I realized how important it is to use that as a motto when dealing with stressful situations.
Here's the quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
When I shared that with my students at first they weren't sure who I was talking about. But as I'm sure you've read or heard or seen, there were so many people, people like you and me, helping the injured and the city officials as well as the police force and everyone involved acted so quickly and were able to apprehend the bomber in what must have been such a scary time.
If we can boil this idea down, to focus on the helpers in our every day lives, we notice the good in others so easily, and the bad doesn't seem so unbearable. The little boy who opened the door for me when I had my hands full today, the colleague I was able to lean on in a moment of stress, the woman who let me cross the street safely as I walked my dog... Everywhere we go people are helping, creating the world we live in, and feeling the gratitude in our hearts will help us sleep easy at night.
Life still is a beautiful thing.
Peace and love,
Katie
I caught a video post by Amy Poeler who spoke on her webcam about being careful of our hearts and what kind of images we expose ourselves to. I stumbled onto a picture of a Boston victim with his legs blown off and blood and tendons spilling everywhere and I will never be able to wipe that from my mind. I've seen pictures of dead bodies and decapitations and lots of other horrible things, not because I'm seeking it out but because it's so easy to come across.
So when I saw someone had shared the Mr. Rogers quote about looking for the helpers, I knew that was the message I wanted to bring to my students... and the more I talked about it today the more I realized how important it is to use that as a motto when dealing with stressful situations.
Here's the quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
When I shared that with my students at first they weren't sure who I was talking about. But as I'm sure you've read or heard or seen, there were so many people, people like you and me, helping the injured and the city officials as well as the police force and everyone involved acted so quickly and were able to apprehend the bomber in what must have been such a scary time.
If we can boil this idea down, to focus on the helpers in our every day lives, we notice the good in others so easily, and the bad doesn't seem so unbearable. The little boy who opened the door for me when I had my hands full today, the colleague I was able to lean on in a moment of stress, the woman who let me cross the street safely as I walked my dog... Everywhere we go people are helping, creating the world we live in, and feeling the gratitude in our hearts will help us sleep easy at night.
Life still is a beautiful thing.
Peace and love,
Katie
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