Hi,
This is Clay Stevenson and welcome to Of Mice and Moments,
A podcast that finds significance in the small moments.
As I walked out of class the other day,
A student approached me with a question.
Mr.
Stevenson,
Would you please excuse my tardiness today?
Having heard this question countless times throughout my career as a college professor,
My knee-jerk reaction was to be defensive and inform the student about the reasons I was unable to grant his request.
For example,
If I was lenient with him,
I would have to be lenient with all of the tardy students that choose to walk through the classroom doors ten minutes late,
Interrupting the moments of educational excellence that accompany my lectures.
If I was lenient with him,
I would be encouraging this type of behavior and fostering bad habits that may accompany him into the workforce.
This,
I thought to myself,
Is one of those teachable moments.
However,
At five foot nine inches,
I was forced to look up into his face as he stood a few inches taller than me,
And from my perspective,
I could see a worried crease in his forehead.
His cheeks were tense,
And the sides of his eyes seemed to push downward,
As if the weight of something very heavy was pressing down on his head,
But from the inside.
And I recognized that look.
I've seen it in the mirror.
You see,
I have somewhat recently had close family members pass and become ill,
Causing me to face my own mortality and dealing me a crippling blow of anxiety,
Worry,
And depression.
I've seen my eyes press down,
My face tense in the mirror,
Not unlike a look that is consistently on the verge of tears.
And now,
Only recently,
I think I truly understand what it feels like to be all consumed with darkness that cloud of no hope,
Depression,
Anxiety.
So when I saw this look on my student's face,
A light went off.
I realized the gift I'd been given.
I had to turn my pain around by offering hope and grace to someone else,
And instead of completely denying his request,
My response to his question was,
Are you okay?
His answer,
No.
I took that moment to let him know that I understood.
I told him that I'd been struggling recently as well.
I encouraged him and assured him that things can and will get better and that he could make it through.
And then I pulled him into a hug,
A real hug that means something.
And in that moment,
His receptiveness to me helped soothe my pain.
And I can only hope that he felt the same way.
So instead of holding on to our notions of right,
Proper,
Correct,
Or principle when dealing with people,
Consider treating other humans as individuals,
People that need love.
And maybe you offering a hug will lift the cloud of no hope.
P.
S.
I still counted him tardy.
Not just kidding.
I offered grace.
