Other People's Shoes

One of the best things about reaching near total exhaustion is that you can look back at just how much you are capable of doing before your body and mind refuse to let you continue. I never fail to be surprised at how little sleep I can function on, and for how long. Slowly, I'm even learning there is always a point when I can let off the gas and coast for awhile.

After a long and tiring weekend away from home with my son and his school's drama team, we are finally home. As overtired as I am, I'm currently too restless to sleep. My brain has been processing an unusual number of tasks during the past four days, and disengaging from it all is proving to be a challenge. If only it were as easy as closing tabs on a browser window and clearing the history.

The kids didn't win the competition, but they walked away with multiple recognitions and a host of things they can incorporate into next year's production. I walked away amazed by how these young, aspiring actors interact and communicate despite the fact that they are competing against each other. It's impressive to see the respect and showmanship — the genuine well-wishing and congratulations extended to those who advanced from those who will try again when festival rolls around in 2017.

I admire the appreciation most of these students are able to show the skills and talents of their peers, and that they seem to grasp that building each other up is far more beneficial than allowing envy to fill the room. I am hopeful they will be steps ahead of where they might otherwise be when entering adulthood and not get hung up on negative behaviors that life's competitions are often wrought with.

As I think back over this experience, I hope that each of these kids holds on to the camaraderie and positive outlooks and shares it with those in their daily life. High schools are in desperate need of this kind of contagion as it is one infection that can incite the best kinds of changes.

Hurrah for those who can imagine themselves in the shoes of another person! These are the people who understand that there is often more to someone than what you see. These are the souls that teach the rest of us to show compassion and how to glimpse more than our own point-of-view.