How to Reclaim Your Power Like My Student Did

Your power, your essence, the hidden potential that lies within each and every one of us is breathtakingly magnificent.

Yet when we are overwhelmed, unsure of the direction that we should take or just plain exhausted, it is difficult to believe in that power. And under these circumstances, it’s tempting to give up.

It’s at times like this that we as parents need to remember the great resources within us and draw upon them. That somewhere deep inside is a hidden universe that is about to be revealed.

How do I know? My students taught me that every single being is filled with rich reservoirs of experience and knowledge. Each one of us holds more resources than we could ever imagine.

Here’s what happened today. With my student that came to our school for two years from another country. A hard-working, determined student, with tons of potential and very little faith in his English speaking abilities.

I work with a group of English Language Learning students once a day and help them along with their English skills. They’ve come a long way and are really doing pretty fantastic.

WHAT IS YOUR KID CONNECTION IQ? TAKE MY QUIZ TO FIND OUT HERE

This young student of mine is probably the hardest working among all of my students. However, when it comes to speaking English he feels pretty insecure. In my opinion, his English is great but he has a thick accent and sometimes struggles to express himself.

Like I said he works pretty darn well but every once in a while he really gets set off about something. And today was one of those days.

His teacher came to me and told me that his students had learned about measuring the volume of a non-prism. His homework was to write a six sentence paragraph about finding the volume of a non-prism.

Fascinating no? How did they do this? By filling up a container with water, throwing in the object (that was not a prism) and seeing how much water the object displaced.

Are you still with me? And anyway what does this have to do with finding your power?

Hold on and we’ll get right to that.

The Story of a Hero

So in comes my student and I mention to him that he has to work on this volume assignment. My cheery friend suddenly stiffened and became not so cheery anymore. And power was the antonym of the way he looked while thinking about this assignment.

“Six sentences!” he said to me. How can I write six sentences?

The tears were starting and the anxiety mounting. Even as he said these words I knew that he had so much more strength than he believed at this moment.

“Tell me what you learned today,” I said

‘Six sentences! How can….

“Just tell me what you learned today”.

He looked at me with his big, brown, sad eyes and began telling me about …the volume of a non-prism.

As he told me the narrative, I held up a finger after he completed each sentence. Not getting what I was on about, he groaned again, “But how will I write 6 sentences???”

“You already told me 6 sentences,” I said resolutely.

He looked at me with amazement and confusion but I could already sense his power returning.

“Tell me again what you learned today”

He began his story again, but each time he finished a sentence, I dramatically displayed my fingers before him. As he finished his story I looked at him and said,

“There you have it! Six sentences”

Again he looked at me with confusion but suddenly a spark of understanding lit up his eyes. He smiled a huge smile, grabbed a piece of paper and began feverishly writing his “six sentences”. He didn’t look up again until he had finished but it was clear to me that his power returned in full force.

After he happily finished his assignment and packed up his things to leave class I asked him,

“So what did you learn today?”

He looked confused, paused for a second and then began telling me about filling a container with water, throwing in a non-prism…

I usually try not to interrupt my students in order to give them the chance to get out their budding ideas but today I did,

“No, but what did you learn today?”

He paused again and slowly a huge smile spread across his now radiant face. He blurted out with force, “I learned that writing sentences are easy!”

Need I say more?

You and I need to learn from my lovely student who regained his power today. We need to learn that seemingly insurmountable challenges can be overcome with patience and determination.

The Power Within

When we are overwhelmed and feel that every door is closed, we can find the path to that one small door that will open and show us the way to success.

My student experienced a moment that he felt ready to give up forever. That was the very moment that he found the answer to carry on with determination and fortitude.

As a teacher and special ed coordinator, I have a unique and direct window into the world of challenges, failures, and successes that my students face on a daily basis. Over the years this has added up to many experiences in the laboratory of life.

I used to feel sorry for these children that were plopped into my care from across the globe. They have to sink or swim in a foreign and sometimes hostile environment. How would they understand the procedure during an unannounced fire drill? How could they defend themselves when someone made fun of them because of a strange accent?

I used to… but not anymore. My students have taught me the tremendous wins that come to those that take that giant leap of faith. The ones that are willing to tackle the dragon in the thick and awesome darkness.

I have learned to gently take their hands and guide them but leave the heavy lifting to them alone. Because really no one can fight the battles of these brave warriors. In order to find victory, they must conquer their own dragons.

They must feel the fear, and do it anyway, pushing through their challenges even as their enemies pursue them.

Once they have done this and not just once, but many times, the spark that ignites in their souls is beyond limitation. They have faced the enemy and defied him.

And the secret is that we do it too. We are so resilient, have so many experiences to draw upon and an unending source of power. So what is it that stops us?

At the moment that we face challenges, we feel fear, uncertainty and the voices of conflict start sounding in our head. You can’t do this, you’re not smart enough, and you aren’t capable enough to be in this situation and why is this happening to me? These voices don’t help us. They only distract us from the task at hand. Worse than that, they remove our power, leaving us listless, anxious and deflated.

In order to flourish, we need to quiet those voices and find our power. To believe that we have the power to cope and think creatively to find real solutions.

This does not mean that we have to go it alone. It does mean that we have the power to seek out the resources that are available and formulate solutions.

Here are some ideas:

* In the face of challenge, if you feel overwhelmed, try to look objectively at the problem.

* When your mind is saying “I can’t”, break the issue down into parts and look for ways to start attacking the issues step by step.

* As you finish one step, start the next

* Tell yourself that you have or can find the resources that you need

* Seek out friends, family or other resources that can help you. Learn from my student to draw from your power within and conquer that dragon.

* When you are in doubt, remember the times that you have overcome challenges and that you can do it again.

* Don’t give up! Keep pushing until you achieve one of the steps that you have set for yourself.

* Repeat the process until you have overcome your challenge

Do you feel that this is too difficult and overcoming a challenge is much more complicated than this simple process? There are many great people in the past who used similar processes to overcome challenges.

You have the power within you to rise to the challenges you face and overcome the negative voices within! You have so much more power than you aware of.

Remember my student, draw on the tremendous power within you, and conquer that dragon!

Please comment, like. and share this article with your friends