What if life had rumble strips? Those loud, vibrating warnings that jolt you back on course when you’re drifting? No one likes to hit them, they can certainly keep us between the lines. For educators, feedback comes in all forms, from a gut feeling to a colleague’s tough words. The key question is: Are you paying attention?
“If you must hold yourself up to your
children as an object lesson, hold yourself
up as a warning and not as an example.”
— George Bernard Shaw
The concern about self-driving cars is understood, but it's not hard to see that many drivers today are either on their phones, sleepy, eating, intoxicated, or distracted.
Rumble strips were added to roads to alert inattentive drivers of potential danger by causing an unmistakable vibration and audible noise that really gets their attention.
It would be useful if life came with warnings like this when we're about to veer off.
Something loud and disruptive that gets our full attention and tells us to WAKE UP!
“A man's conscience, like a warning line
on the highway, tells him what he shouldn't do—
but it does not keep him from doing it.”
— Frank A. Clark
Perhaps we're hitting the rumble strips on the road of life but not heeding the alarm.
Our bodies often give signs that something's wrong and we need to make a change. Our spirit gets uneasy when the situation doesn't align with our values and purpose.
Our colleagues may be sending signals that we are the cause of conflict and concern.Our assessments of progress and impact clearly show less than expected and needed.
It's risky to ignore the warnings that should be causing adjustments to our direction.
“The way of fools seems right to them,
but the wise listen to advice.”
— Proverbs 12:15
Who in our life has permission to tell us hard truths and keep us on the right path? Habits make the difference. Do we pause and thoroughly listen to the feedback, or do we become lost in stubborn defensiveness that stunts our growth and effectiveness? Self-confidence without keen self-awareness inevitably leads to the pitfall of pride, where we foolishly ignore the alerts in full speed devotion toward our own demise.
Self-intelligence combined with humility helps us correct to get back on the road.
Respect those rumbles. They can help you if you heed the feedback to stay on track toward your noble goals.
