Your Presence is a Gift

As a new school year begins, we may find our “to-do list” growing longer and longer.

If you are a parent or caregiver, yours may include buying new shoes and school supplies, planning for school lunches, navigating first day nerves (for you AND your kids), and getting the kids’ sleep schedules back to “normal.”

Teachers are busy preparing their classrooms, planning for how to meet students the first day and build relationships with students and create a community.

School administrators are making sure students and staff have all the tools they need to be successful. They are preparing for the first day PA day, ensuring timetables are balanced and that teachers have all the resources they need.

With all the things to do, we can sometimes forget to stop and be present.

As leaders, in our classrooms, our offices, our businesses, our families, the greatest gift we can give to ourselves and to those we serve is our presence. Being fully present lets others know we see them, value them and are invested in the relationship.

How can we show up and be fully present with our colleagues, our staff, our students, our families? We still have to work through the “to-do list” but we can do the things while connecting with others, being fully in the moment, without judgement.

Welcome September! This is a great time to be present.