Adventure Specialists' Advice
August 17, 2016
Myth Debunked: Life at Dalat is Neither a Marathon nor a Sprint!
I'm sure you've heard the statement "Life is a marathon, not a sprint," many times before. After working at Dalat for four years and experiencing the pace, I've decided that this statement it entirely wrong. Life at Dalat is NOT a marathon. It is NOT a sprint. It IS interval training.
Interval training is all the rage in the fitness world. Instead of long periods of sustained exercise, you do short bursts, giving it everything you've got, then taking a quick rest to recover, then doing it all over again. This is said to be a better form of physical fitness and a way to improve cardiovascular health. So, what does this have to do with life?
When we are on duty, we go with everything we've got. From the first day of staff conference (or maybe before), we work, plan, think, prepare, teach, coach, mentor, and live with everything we've got. There's no thought of pacing yourself to save some energy for the rest of the school year. It takes everything we've got every single day. We push ourselves as much as we can. Then comes the break. There are weekends after every five days, an additional day off every few weeks, a week off a the end of the quarter, a few weeks off at the end of the semester, and several weeks off at the end of the year.
In order to be successful in interval training, it's not only important to go your hardest during the workout time. It's equally important to rest during the break periods. If you don't take the time to rest, you'll never make it to the end. It appears that God knew this when he instituted the Sabbath and made it one of his Top 10. Sometimes, though, we think we know better than God and ignore this commandment. We don't take the time to rest, but instead cram something else into our schedules. Sometimes, we push ourselves to go places, see people, complete projects, and meet other goals instead of recharging during our break times.
How does living your life in intense intervals affect your walk with God? I think that it's a little bit different for each of us. For some of us, we use our busyness as an excuse to put off time with God. We wait until we have breaks and then try to find some "quality time." For others of us (like me), we know how much we need God in the hustle and bustle and schedule time for devotions. In the rest times, we feel like we can do it on our own and don't rely on him as faithfully. I think the challenge for each of us is to remember that we need God all the time. Our relationship with him cannot be like intervals, where we take breaks every now and then. God is with us in both the calm and the storm, and we should also remain in him.
So, what's the good news? Since interval training is healthy for our physical bodies, it stands to reason that it is also a healthy way to live our lives. We just have to remember that there are two parts to interval training, and not try to live every single day in work time or in the rest time. We need both. We also need to remember that God is with us in both. God commands us both to "be still" and to "work with all of your heart." He also says, "I am with you always." Put these three together to successfully live your life in intervals.
Upcoming Events
Open House:
Open House begins at 5:00 on August 26. From 5:30-6:30, you should be in your classroom for parents to drop in, visit, and chat. Please have a handout available for them to take with them describing your grading and policies. If you've already sent this home, just offer another copy of the same thing. At 6:30 please shoo everyone out for dinner and the silent auction. More details will be coming from the Development Office (Larry).
MS BBQ:
The MS BBQ on the calendar for Sept. 10 is replacing the annual PTO BBQ. Instead of one all school event, the Development Office (Larry again) is planning divisional evenings. These are part of the capital campaign. I would like you to plan to attend the MS BBQ to mix and mingle with parents. Dinner will be provided free of charge. If you teach in more than one division, please choose one event to attend. (Of course, you could attend more - I'll be at all three of them!)
Track and Field Day: The track and field team has a few of their own events scheduled for this year, so the Track and Field Day has been cancelled. The HS will substitute a HS only event for this day. In MS, we already have 1 "activity day" per quarter scheduled, so we'll skip this one.
Important Dates
August 22-26: MS MAP testing (planning to use all of the iPad's); schedule
August 23: PD Meeting
August 26: Open House, 5-8 PM
August 31: No School (Malaysia Day)
September 6: Combined Staff, 4 PM, Chapel
September 7-9: SEW
September 9: No uniform day
September 10: MS Community BBQ (hosted by Larry)