Taking a few deep and contemplative breaths before diving into anything can reveal the way for finding success.

Crumbling white water, breaking waves, rushing undertow, and the seemingly rog wave can send you running from the oceans’s edge. If you have never studied the ocean before diving in, you have likely found yourself floundering.

But waves have direction, timing, and shape that is all discernable if you learn what to look for. Carefully watched waves tell you when they will break, how they will break, and when it will be easy to  swim to the calm beyond them. 

The courses you take in school also have organized patterns and provide cues for how to enjoy them. There are major and minor assignments. There are celebrated methods for participating. There are certain skills called for consistently. There is a design for doing well, but you have to take the time to look before you dive in.

Not everything you do needs to be intentional. Running into the ocean on a calm summer day without thought is good fun. Learning something new in response to an immediate problem can be rewarding. But the learning we do in school calls for purposefulness, planning, and intentionality.

Doing well in school while being well in life begins with understanding how our learning has been designed. We can set ourselves up to learn intentionally by meeting with our teachers and asking these simple questions: How many assignments do we have? Which assignments are the most important? What does good participation look like? What are the skills I will need to apply consistently? What should I do if I get stuck or confused? What is the best way to partner with you  – my teacher?

I hope this weekend you find your way to the ocean, take a few deep breaths, study the breaking waves and consider how you might make your learning even more intentional.

Peace,

Chris