The above picture is of a native bird to Paraguay--Pitoque. It's a bird that's always up to the challenge of feeding in my lawn regardless of my predatory cat, Santi.
Conflict/challenge—these are inevitable pieces of the human condition—a part of everyday life. How we approach them, how we perceive them, our “mindset” can define the impacts and where we go next.
“Challenge and adversity are meant to help you know who you are. Storms hit your weakness, but unlock your true strength.”
It feels as though throughout my career, there have been challenges abound, from the individual down to the system. Both great and small. Both tragic and epic. Many of those challenges haven’t been something I wanted, honestly challenges no one would have wanted, yet there I was knee-deep in it, with a bunch of folks who were also knee-deep, given a choice to either proceed or submit.
School has started again, in-person, this past week. Refreshing in so many ways, uncertain in others. I could give a litany of reasons or challenges that have been frustrating or frightening. Still, as I sit back and digest what the organization has done, what the staff has done, what the children have done, I can also see the long list of success and growth.
We planned for months, with support and in some places without—there are always those who sit with the negative, sit with doubt, sit with self-concern, just as there are those who are helplessly positive and optimistic and selfless. The world exists and ebbs and flows with individuals as such. The human equation is long with multiple variables. I like it when the challenges and optimism balance in the equation, where there is a conflicting synergy between the two perspectives. Sometimes an institution doesn’t always have that luxury. Sometimes, I haven’t had that luxury.
Kids came on campus today relatively organized but subdued—like they almost forgot how to be kids. To be students. After all, it's been more than a year since they have been together at school. My teachers were buzzing around. There were smiles for certain. I heard words of encouragement, constructive support. Positive parent texts came in via WhatsApp. People helped one another out of collaboration and shared humanity—perhaps hope. Although I am exhausted getting to this point, it was like shining a bit of light in those dark spaces, and in doing so, you remember how beautiful some of those spaces can really be.
I admire the people I work with and for those whom I work for—this isn't easy for anyone, and there has been plenty to trip over getting to where we are today. There is no clear path save forward even though it winds and curves. But that’s kind of what life is, no—a journey of ups and downs, winds and turns. Perhaps even actions that make the impossible possible?
Fuerza!
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