Life Doesn't Come With A Warning Label

     You might find this hard to believe, but the very first warning label on a product did not surface until 1938 when Congress passed a law mandating that food products have a list of ingredients on the label. Since then, warning labels have been put on substances like tobacco, music, movies, alcohol, toys, appliances, etc. It's funny to me that over the past eighty years, so many of the things in our lives exist with risks and restrictions, yet life as we know it comes without a warning label.  

     I had no idea, for example, that when I was little and talked back to my mom, the soap she put in my mouth would taste so bad.
     I had no warning that when I moved to a new neighborhood at age 13, I would struggle to fit in.
     I didn't know that the low test grade I received back in tenth-grade geometry would never matter when I was 24 or 34 or 44.
     I had no clue that college would be as life-changing as it was and how much I needed to be on my own to finish growing up.
     I didn't realize how difficult my first year of teaching would be and how after 21 years, it's still hard.

Life as we know it comes without a warning label.

     I never knew that when I got myself into a serious car accident at age 23, I would have to learn to walk again and that one singular moment would change my life perspective.
     I had no idea that my husband was flirting with me when we first met. Considering we met coaching high school debate, that one is understandable.
     Even though many did warn me that I'd hit a metaphorical wall when I was running my first marathon, I had no idea that mile 18 would give me that much trouble.
     I had no idea that being a parent was as challenging as it is and that all three of my kids would be completely different human beings even if I raised them the same way.

Life as we know it comes without a warning label.

     I had no idea that when my son was four years old, he would open all of his presents on Christmas morning (along with his sisters' presents) before the family got up. Had I known I would be rewrapping those presents that year, I would have invested in more wrapping paper or maybe left them unwrapped under the tree in the first place.
     I had no idea that my 20/20 vision would start to deteriorate when I got into my forties.
     Twenty years ago, no one told me that we would one day live in a world where we are plagued by technology, school shootings, and cyberbullying.

Life as we know it comes without a warning label.

     I had no idea that my students would truly change as writers over three months' time. This is the first year I am teaching Dual Enrollment. We have written A LOT. Yet, when I look at the progress you have made--when I look at your creativity in your most recent assignment of written and video reviews--I am encouraged that the goals I set for you can be achieved.

 I witnessed that same creativity when my IB English students made whiteboard videos of the iconic John Lennon song "Imagine." I had no idea that what resulted would be so incredibly powerful. I had no idea what you were truly capable of doing.

Life as we know it comes without a warning label.

     I wish I knew that it would be my students who saved the day when the internet went out a few weeks ago. That day my TOK math lesson was totally driven by my Google slides presentation on the internet and was way over my head if I was to try to replicate it.  So, I did what any teacher would have done. I listened to my students who suggested we do a compliment battle. What this consisted of was two students facing each other, saying nice things about each other in the form of a compliment. Even my class who likes to joke around from time to time got serious in doing this. We did get that math lesson in another day, but I wish I knew that sometimes the best lessons don't need the internet or innovative technology or even have to be academic. I wish I knew that my students are far more compassionate than I give them credit for.

Life as we know it comes without a warning label.

     Somehow we're not covered under any kind of warranty. There's no warning sign that says what's going to happen if we make the choices we do. I wish I could pass down all of the useful things I've learned in my forty-plus years of existence--like how struggle can be good and complaining never gets you anywhere. How important it is to keep a journal, exercise, and surround yourself with good people. How kindness often trumps intelligence in this world and that money can get you places but not everywhere. How your class rank isn't going to matter when you're older nor is the kind of jeans you wear or the type of car you drive. That selfies, Taco Bell, having a tan, and Starbucks are overrated and so are greed, hatred, and selfishness.

Yes, life as we know it comes without a warning label.

     Yet, perhaps that's part of the entire journey. If we knew how every minute detail would pan out, would we ever learn anything? Would we ever grow?

     While our lives come without warning labels, for what it's worth, allow me to give you fair warning: Life is hard--sometimes so hard that we have to put on the hard hat and face the unknown, the challenging, the complicated. Sometimes we just need to laugh. Sometimes we need to shake our heads and move on. Sometimes we are given the opportunity to celebrate.  So when life at times seems unbearable, messy, ridiculous, awesome, inspiring, or unbelievable...

Let it.