Byron's Babbles

Yesterday I was meeting with one of our great National FFA Mentor Teacher Ambassadors, J. R. Pierce, from Montana. I am excited to be going to his school in August to do a two day leadership program for the student leaders in his school. As we were finalizing the plans, J. R. shared one of his profound thoughts that I have grown to appreciate him for. He said, “I see how teacher joy goes out the window!” I then said that he couldn’t just make that statement and us not discuss it.

I asked him, “How do we keep that from happening?” I loved his answer and it was so true. He said “We need to quit killing the joy in other teachers; especially our younger teachers.” His solution for this was to keep our opinions to ourselves. An example he gave was when a teacher is working on a bulletin board and another teacher rants that it is a waste of time and they’re not taking the extra time to do that. That ranting teacher was killing teacher joy and needed to keep their opinion to themself.

These “joy killers” are what I also call a “buzz kill.” Beware of the buzz kill! That person who is in your organization, community, class, school, or government who takes a perfectly good idea, concept, or change and shucks it off as being worthless or not meeting their own values. The thing about buzz kills is they are usually smart, respected, and rationale people. They appear to be very noble in their actions and may not even know they are killing someone’s joy. Can you think of a time when sharing your opinion killed someone’s joy? I can!

Think about it. If we hear that something we are doing is stupid enough times, we will lose our joy. I have continued to ponder J. R.’s thoughtful solution of keeping our opinions to ourselves. Keeping our opinions to ourselves can help prevent unnecessary conflict and preserve harmony in our relationships. When we choose not to voice every thought, especially if it might be critical or dismissive, we create a more respectful and understanding environment. This consideration allows others to feel valued and free to express themselves without fear of judgment or negativity, which in turn helps maintain their happiness and confidence. Essentially, sometimes silence acts as a gentle gesture that protects others’ joy and fosters kindness and peace.

Everyone has joy killers in their lives, but we all have joy givers too. The challenge for us is to identify the joy killers to avoid, and replenish with the joy givers. Thanks J. R. for inspiring these thoughts. The world needs more great teachers like you! Here is our challenge: be a joy giver, not a joy killer.