Two weeks ago marked the forty-eighth anniversary of the day one of America’s great hero's life was cut short by an assassin. One of the most inspiring leaders of my generation Robert F. Kennedy said, “Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.” As I look back upon this past week I realize all to often I continue to ask why instead of why not.
For the past two years I have struggled along with millions of Americans who have found themselves out of work. It has been crushing for me to watch my wife be the only teacher at her school to sign up to teach summer school. Half-heartedly I hoped some other teacher in the district would fill the position, or miraculously someone would hire me or pay me for my writing. As I picked her up yesterday and said good-bye to some teachers and the principal who already bore the signs of relief their impending hiatus produce I knew my opportunity to rescue her had come and gone.
Determined to stop looking at things the way they are, waiting on miracles to happen, focusing on the resources at hand, my goal is to make it possible for my wife not only to turn away the opportunity to teach summer school next year but to stay home the following fall if she would rather not return.
When I started this journey four months ago the catalyst for my daily excursions into the blogosphere was the book Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk. In this book he points out everyone has some area of expertise to share with others, and he considers blogging the ideal way. During this past week I signed up for a networking service called help a reporter out (HARO), which has individuals provide expertise to reporters looking for various resources. To date my biggest problem has been determining in what specific category my expertise lies.
An obvious choice would be education. With all my years of teaching and having earned a doctorate in curriculum and education there would appear to be no question I have expertise in the field. Still, my experience has been fraught with doubters, causing me to doubt at times. Perhaps Walt Disney doubted himself when he was fired as a cartoonist, or Winston Churchill when he was forced to step down as prime minister.
My years studying and working in educational technology, training and development, school administration and special education make me think there must be something to call my area of expertise. The complexity of it all has caused me to move from analysis to paralysis. Fortunately, my real expertise brought me out of stagnation and back amongst the living.
Like with Bobby while I may be able to look at the world around me, analyze what is taking place, even recognize cause and effect relationships that lead me to ask why, my real expertise, gift, vision, is the ability to see what is possible, what needs to happen, and to ask why not.
To that end I will be dividing my blog in two, one will continue to follow my life story while the other will start a dialogue on the question of why not. Be sure to follow closely for these changes will occur in the next two weeks. Thank you for your support.
Do you have a why not question? Please share it in the comment section.
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