Plans Aren't Enough

I burned the lesson plan.

I knew that if I walked into that room of 2nd graders feeling and thinking the way I was, even the best lesson plan wouldn’t go well.

I was feeling strained. My mind was fluttering with thoughts, my body was tense, and my heart nervous.

Then, I remembered the Truth: the lesson plans matter, but it’s the being of the teacher that makes the difference. 

As I walked to the classroom, I decided to burn my lesson plan.

For me, planning is an important part of teaching, but it's not teaching.

Planning is setting up the fire pit before friends come over. But it’s not the fire that brings passion, fun, and love present in the conversation: it’s the human beings participating in it. The fire is a condition that supports the conversation - it supports our being together.

Whenever I’m nervous about how a plan will go - in class, in transformational programs, in life - I’m living from my thinking and not from the ground of my being. Nervousness and strain are usually a reaction to fearful thinking. Presence, compassion, and vitality, however, are an authentic engagement with this moment.

It’s what a client of mine discovered this week: peace is the precondition for real happiness - access inner peace, and happiness, enjoyment, and love flow easily.

My 11th and 12th grade math teacher, Mr. McGrath - I don’t remember a single lesson he planned and taught us, but I remember who he was for us. Committed. Intentional. Holding us to a high standard of integrity and diligence. 

Plans are important, don’t get me wrong. But plans alone aren’t enough to cause what we're out to cause in our lives. Our authentic presence, our being, is the special sauce that adds meaningful, impactful, and memorable flavor to the work and activities of our lives.

This is mastery.

“You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.”

- Charlie Parker, Jazz Saxophonist.