Another way to grow professionally is to observe and meet with more experienced individuals. During my first year teaching, I was given a mentor. Every month we would have a task to complete together to help me grow as a first year teacher. Additionally, my administrators were open and pleased with the idea of finding me sub coverage for a few days the first semester to allow me the chance to observe other teachers in the building and their practices.

The bottom line is that change is inevitable. Whether we change or not, those around us will continue to change. Friends will get married and start families. Coworkers will leave to find better opportunities. Families will move to new states for various reasons. All of those things happen regardless of if one changes or not.

So, what do we do about that?

I live in Alabama. Summers tend to be hot and humid, with random storms popping up all the time. Those storms can bring with them thunder, lightning, and heavy rainfall. Think about the storm as the inevitable. I cannot control the weather. The plants can't either. There is always a change the wind from the storm might blow the plants around, causing them to look a little messy. The plants take a beating from the storm that happens. It can change them.

However, when the storm clears up, growth occurs. This growth is optional. I could take lots of measures, such as bringing potted plants inside during the storm, or covering up the ones that are not in pots. I do not do that though. The rainfall that comes with a summer storm does magical things for plants. I can water them every day with my watering hose, but the growth that occurs after a storm is unmatched. The natural rain, the rain I cannot control, is what makes the plants sprout up so quickly and produce more fruit.

In our own lives, we cannot control when something that seems scary or hard happens to us. However, we have the choice to take cover and hide from the change, or we can put our roots down, embrace the change, and grow.