Lesson Learned: Don't panic

I have a student named Nick. He is a cutie and one of my favorites. (Yes, it is true. Teachers have favorites.) He is super funny and a good helper and has total lightbulb moments when he finally understands something. He has funny dance moves when we're getting our wiggles out and he always messes up the punch line when he tells me a joke.

So while I love Nick and I'm glad he's in my class, there is one thing he does that just drives me bonkers. The second something gets too hard for him, he will theatrically throw his pencil on his desk, put his hands over his eyes or up in the air, and exclaim in frustration, "I can't do it!" Ahh! It makes me crazy when he does this. First of all, he didn't even give it a chance. Second of all, maybe I wasn't done explaining the whole thing yet so I'm not expecting him to completely get it. Third of all, I totally 100% know that he can do it.

This especially happens with our timed addition tests. There's a voice recording that goes along with the test where a voice reads the math problems aloud to the kids. I've told them that if they get stuck or behind, they can just skip up ahead to the one we're on and leave the others blank. Nick hates not being able to fill in the answer to every question. He's pretty good at math so he usually does okay but, every once in a while, he'll get caught up on a tricky one, realize he's behind, panic frantically for a second trying to catch up, and then immediately do his little throwing-his-hands-in-the-air-and-exclaiming bit.

It's the panic that gets him. 

If he could stay calm for just a few extra seconds, he would be able to find where we are and catch up. He would probably only miss one or two problems at most. Instead he goes into freak out mode and gives up.

While this process drives me crazy, I can totally sympathize with him. I am the queen of freaking out. When something seems like it's getting too hard or when it doesn't seem to be going right, I panic, throw my metaphorical pencil down on my metaphorical desk, and want to give up.

Some lose their faith the moment they are diagnosed with cancer. Some decide that prayers aren't answered because they didn't immediately feel a warm fuzzy after their prayer. Others may be quick to label themselves as a bad mom, a bad student, a bad athlete, or a bad member of the church when they momentarily don't match up to some arbitrary standard that's been set. Some quickly decide that they'll never get married because their date last night tanked. Some give up on New Years resolutions because they missed one day or ate the ice cream.

Whatever form it takes, a lot of us are probably guilty of being quick to panic and lose the trust or faith we once had in someone or something. I am grateful we have a patient Heavenly Father who, just as I view Nick, sees the potential we have and knows we are still in the middle of a big learning process. When we have a moment of weakness, failure, stupidity, forgetfulness, or ignorance, we just need to stay calm, realize that it's okay to miss a few problems on the test, figure out where we're supposed to be, move forward, and get back on track.

That quote is from an excerpt from one of my favorite Mormon Messages. This was already one of my favorite talks so I was super excited when they made it into a Mormon Message! You should watch it. It will make you happy. And Elder Holland is always inspiring.

Just something to apply now or save for later.