Breaking the Cycle...

When I ask my students about breaking the cycle, they look at my like I have three heads. They don't understand what that means and where I am going to go with it. I think as an educator of teenagers, this is a very important conversation that we need to be having, but....what does that mean? What form does that take on? What in the hell is a cycle?

I give them an example of poverty first. How do we break the cycle of poverty? Many answer with, "move out of this town, go to college or get a good paying job." Yes, these things are great....but does that mean you will break the cycle of poverty? This is where is begins to get tricky. If you grew up in poverty your entire life and you go to college and start experiencing the world and opening your mind to new things, will that change your perception? Of course it will, we all know that answer to that...But...once you join your family at the next family function and your drunk Uncle Bob starts making racist or uneducated statements that you know are not right or correct, what do you do? If you correct your Uncle, then you are the outsider of the family, the smarty pants that thinks they know it all, and you are instantly viewed a "better than they are".  If you don't correct him, then what do you stand for?
This is the crucial point where people either break the cycle or fall back into it. They either find the strength to continue moving forward or they regress back into the cycles that they were born into.

Other cycles that we are all trying to break can range from technology, to addition, lifestyles, education, temptation, choices or anything that we don't like or respect about ourselves or the generations before us. We have to dig deep and find the strength to break the cycles that we all have been born into and be brave enough to change and forge ahead.

What cycles have you broken? What cycles do you try and change everyday? What cycles are you still apart of? Can we really ever change?

If we don't reflect on our past, we can't change our future. If kids don't understand where they came from, how can they make an effort to change? Self-reflection and awareness is a critical part for all of us to reach our self-actualization state.

Just a little fruit for thought...

Enjoy and go out and break a cycle today!

Ms. Leigh