Passion to Gratitude - Term 3 Focus
Our focus this term is our value of Passion. Throughout your time here we hope that you are trying new things in order to find new passions, or pursuing and growing in the passions you have already found - either way, looking for ways to improve and learn.
It is through embracing the opportunities which present themselves to you, and the challenges that come with those, which lead to personal growth.
Whether your passions are academic, sporting or cultural is somewhat irrelevant, although we’d hope you have a balance. However, today, I want to focus on what enables you to discover and pursue those passions.
Who are the people behind the scenes? What’s the mahi that’s hidden in plain sight? Who are the people going above and beyond for the opportunities which you benefit from? How much thought do you give them, and how or when do you acknowledge them - show your appreciation?
It would be easy to overlook contributions as simple as driving you to and from practice, rehearsal, trips, school, or the work that goes into lessons in the hopes that new learning will be easier for you to access; your teacher, your parents who taxi you around, your daily bus driver are all there - connected to your passions.
It’s even easier to overlook those who had the initiative to start, or willingness to step up to keep things going - do you ever consider the sports club committee members, the local event organisers, the facility caretakers or pool maintenance people, who give up their time and energy to ensure you have these opportunities? Would you be so passionate about mountain biking, being on stage acting, skiing, dance, swimming, music, without those things being available in our community? Without the people behind those things being available in our com
munity?
I can tell you from my own experience, the people behind your passions don’t do it for the thanks, but it definitely means they’re more likely to keep going or do it again. I’d also be willing to go as far as to say, noone ever felt worse after being thanked. So, next time you’re discovering or pursuing your passions, take a little time to show a little gratitude - it will go further than you think.