Helpers

“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

-Fred Rogers

I know Mr. Rogers shared this bit of wisdom with the intent of helping children cope with scary situations. I think this piece of advice is universal – it can apply to anyone, in any more or less dire situations. There are helpers all around us every single day. We constantly hear news of good samaritans or of people who pay it forward. Those are certainly the kinds of helpers that immediately spring to mind.

Yet, I think if you take the time to stop and look around, you’ll find a myriad of regular helpers, right there in your immediate orbit. You may not always be aware of it while you’re in it, but there are times when nothing seems to go right, and you need to lean on every single one of those helpers. It can be the office assistant who smiles and asks you how your day is. It can be the colleague who offers to make your copies because your day is totally booked with back to back meetings. It can be the person who offers to help with a task on a committee. It can be an expert who shares resources with you or just takes the time to help you work toward a solution that’s been elusive. These people are all around you, and they’re always willing to help. It’s just that you’re so busy and preoccupied with what’s immediately in front of you, or you’re simply too snowed under to notice. Sometimes, you just need to look up. 

This is a concept worth helping our students understand. There is always someone willing to take the time to help. There is always someone who knows more and who can help with the process, or who can help direct us toward someone who does. These connections are so powerful and can help us grow exponentially. I, personally, made quick  connections with a sizable group of enthusiastic educators and have found that Twitter is a lifesaver as a platform for keeping in touch and following what everyone is doing. That being said, while there is immense utility in social networking, it’s the face-to-face connections that still prove to be the most invaluable.

In a world of Instagram “perfection,” it can be easy to fall into a trap of relativity – constantly drawing comparisons and finding ourselves and our work wanting. It becomes easy to get weighed down by the influx of information or dejected by the lack of quiet space in a world of sensory overload. It might be tempting in those overwhelming moments to just give up…but we shouldn’t. Everyone has a unique perspective and a voice that ought to be heard, and through collaboration and open communication, amazing things can happen. We all have something worthwhile to share, and it’s important not to get caught up in measuring the value of our contributions against anyone else’s. We just have to put it out there, confident that it will serve us and others well. 

I recently put this on my quote board to remind my students and myself of an important but easily lost truth:

No one is you and that is your superpower.

Dave Grohl

So, in short: it’s important to identify the helpers when you need them, but you should likewise try to be a helper whenever you can. Be mindful of the quid pro quo. Just be willing to give of your time, your talent, or your resources. I think you’ll find that you can make even more meaningful connections by giving freely of yourself, which may just prove to be more gratifying than you ever might have imagined.