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Ex-students now living dreams
When I taught school, I always had a new aphorism on the board every day. I can remember the students stepping eagerly through the door to see what new saying had been written on the board. I would also have other students who were not in my class stick their heads in the door to see what the daily aphorism was. These sayings were an important part of the class.
What if I had taught them English so well that they all made A's in the course, but when they finished the class, the students had no idea what they wanted from life, or where they were headed? My main objective was to awaken them to their aspirations. What were they passionate about? I knew that once a student became aware of his greatest passions, he became a self-driven individual.
The following are some of the aphorisms that were used to strike the flint that caused the spark that lit their fires of desires. 1. Smiling is a habit. 2. Enthusiasm is an attitude. 3. Perspective — The way you see life will largely determine what you get out of life. 4. The successful person is the one that is always overcoming problems. 5. Others can stop you temporarily, but you are the only one who can do it permanently.
6. Freedom, like health, is often appreciated only after we no longer have it. 7. Some of your biggest battles in life will be with yourself. 8. Success — The price of success is considerably less than the price of failure. 9. Happiness is finding each day a priceless coin. 10. Incentive is the soul of success.
11. You can't sharpen a razor on a piece of velvet. 12. You can get more mileage from life by giving more smileage to life. 13. No night has ever been so dark that the sun did not rise to follow it. 14. Gifted people are made; not born. 15. Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?
16. The circumstances of our lives follow the patterns of our thoughts. 17. Planning is the difference between remaining on earth wishing for the moon and going to the moon to find out how to get to the stars. 18. You are the only person in existence who can use your potential. 19. There is no such thing as a lazy person. He is either sick or uninspired. 20. If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him for life.
21. Experience the joy of accomplishment. 22. Love will die of neglect, just as a flower, tree or bush. 23. Know what people need. 24. Greatness — Make no small plans. For they have no capacity to stir men's souls. 25. Life is like a water pump. You have to put something in it before you can get something out of it.
26. Nobody on the face of this earth can make you feel inferior without your permission. 27. You will make a lousy anybody else, but you are the best you there is. 28. You owe it to life to make an effort to do and to become what in your heart you yearn to do and to become. 29. Enthusiasm attracts!!! 30. Vision — You must see it big before you can make it big.
I loved to teach. It excited me to drop nuggets of words into their fertile minds to see how they responded. I discovered that students did not care how much I knew until they found out how much I cared. I do not think that I inspired anyone to become an English teacher, but I have witnessed former students who are living their dreams.
Robert Charles Payne is an inspirational writer who lives in West Monroe. He can be contacted by e-mailing robertcharlespayne@yahoo.com. |
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