- Yesterday, I fell back, in one instance, into an unlucky custom of mine: speaking without carefully considering what I’m going to say. In that situation, I failed to be a circumspect teacher. The word suggests an ability to "look around" at the circumstances and the possible consequences before speaking or acting, and I did little or none of that. Some students had moved a few lounge chairs in the library, and, with no forethought whatsoever, I chastised them in a somewhat surly manner. I didn’t think, but simply spoke. I behaved more like a clicking, snapping apparatus than a responsive person. Unfortunately, this happens to me more often than I sometimes realize. I spend a portion of each school day reacting – talking and behaving in a hasty and mindless manner. In a sense, you could say I’m a classic example of the ‘absent-minded professor’, since a clear thinking, observant mind seems absent during much of my day. I do a lot more drifting than piloting. This is a project I need to work on. I need to try, each day, each hour, to put thoughts before words and actions. I need to let attentiveness preside over my life instead of impulsivity. I need to look around.
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