Thoughtful Thursday: Time to Dive Back Into Inspirational Quotations

I have a small box containing cards that have a bunch of quotations in it. It's not decorated in anything even resembling my style, but that little box helps me reflect on lots of things.

It's been a while since I've actually looked at that little box, but I think I'll break it out again. I'm in search of some inspiration.

The quotation is selected in a completely non-scientific manner. I basically take the cards and shuffle them in my hands until one feels right. Once I find one that I think feels right, that's the one that goes in the front window of the box. The rest get crammed back into the box behind the one in the forefront. That process is now finished, so it is time to think about what the box quote is telling me.

This week's quotation comes to us from Thomas Edison:

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this -- you haven't.

This quotation is coming to my attention at the perfect time. My students are currently in the throes of major upheaval - every classroom has either a new teacher, new classroom staff members, or new students - many of them have all three going on at the same time. The entire student population does not know where they all stand in the student pecking order, and everyone has had at least one tantrum this week - that's at least 115 tantrums in three days. Our administrators are no where to be found and everyone is so very tired of pulling kids apart and having to constantly negotiate with students that our tempers are very short as well. It's not been the best of weeks at my place of employment.

On a personal note, I am in the beginning stages of my annual allergy/respiratory infection cycle, so my breathing is not where it needs to be for full oxygen saturation. This makes everything that happens at work more difficult for me to work through since I am slower and more internally-focused. So, this quotation is a good one for me right now.

I like this. I also like the story about Thomas Edison and how he tried to make the incandescent light bulb. He is credited with making a comment that goes a bit like this (I couldn't find a consistent number in this story, so I'm just going to paraphrase here) - "I have not failed, I've found [countless] ways NOT to make a light bulb." I like that. I like knowing that there are infinite possibilities to every conundrum and that many of those have not been discovered...yet.

I like to think of myself as someone who "thinks outside the box," but I probably think just a bit outside the box and not as far away from the ways we've always done things as I like to think. I like having structure and some ideas, but that's not always the best way forward. There are times when you just have to try something that is not even on your radar - just to see what goes on and what happens. 

So, Mr. Edison, I am going to think about these words and make them work for me. I am going to keep going towards the things that I want to do in my life, and I will continue to press forward and never give up.