Maintaining a Consistent Presence

Taxes, prom, warmer days, looming graduations, family obligations & personal responsibilities are all waiting in the wings to take a bite out of your already limited time. In this era, though most of us are not manually laboring from sun up to sun down, we seem to have less time in the day to tend to the duties our lives are faced with than our grandparents did fifty years ago. We live in a capitalistic society that makes demands that must be addressed daily, & those demands can make our lives complex & robotic. Yes, we have wonderful inventions that simplify our lives such as automobiles, electric heat, running water & indoor toilets. No more beating clothes on rocks or hauling water for a monthly bath. Inventions were supposed to help humans gain more time for leisure. Though this intention was successful, what would be leisure time turned into more time to devote to work related tasks.

Americans spend more time working & commuting, taking less days off per year than any other industrialized nation. Europeans are fortunate to have a guaranteed two week paid vacation holiday each year. Americans are lucky to use a sick day here & there. So, hard work & the dedication of Americans working toward the American Dream facilitates the cycle of 50+ hour work weeks, stress ladened lives, & plenty of Monday blues. For some the work week creeps by, but for others the days fly by leaving the individual feeling as if there is never enough time in the day to complete all the commitments they have taken on to do.

In Counseling, Psychology & Sociology, the disciplines ask students to consider work satisfaction as an element that factors in how one looks at the quality of their life. In Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Maslow stated that the level of transcendence will bring life satisfaction. Holocaust survivor & psychiatrist Viktor Frankl believed that meaning & purpose are what bring fulfillment to the individual. When we consider the importance of these three simple beliefs & how they apply to life we can sum up their premise to state something like: If you love what you are doing every day, you will easily find the meaning & purpose of your existence, especially if you give some of yourself back to society willingly in hopes that you can help others out in a positive manner. So, the essence in life comes from giving of yourself each day to things that are joyful to be associated with. When I stop to consider the importance of these three simple concepts, it is not hard to understand that their principles ask us to contemplate the ways that we have control in what we do with our life & our time. What better way of addressing all of these tenets by becoming the best instructor we have the capacity to be?

As an instructor we are the vehicle that helps move information & the minds of students. We utilize theory, history, concepts, technology & words to convey what is known so that what is not known can be discovered. Instructors profess the intricate material uniquely associated with the discipline we teach. The knowledge we share with our students ultimately facilitates a reshaping of ideology, premise, & foundational belief. Our presence in the classroom, whether physical or virtual is one of the most important components of facilitating knowledge & growth. When the student finds their instructor is passionate about the topic, they are more willing to invest in learning. By maintaining a consistent presence for the students, the instructor becomes more invested in the self & in the three theories of Maslow, Frankl & the importance of obtaining career satisfaction. What more could you ask for if every morning when your feet hit the ground first thing that you actually loved doing what you do? I will end this with one of the most poignant words of wisdom a favorite professor in grad school once told me, "You are responsible for the way you feel about your situation." So, in essence, you are responsible for taking the path you do in life. In realizing this, you become empowered to make the most of each day for yourself, & for the students you hold in your hands each semester...