CHALK TALK: The secret ingredient

About a week ago, I was driving home from town with my dogs in the seat behind me. Cooper’s head was hanging out of the rolled-down window. Tongue wagging, ears flapping, she was gleefully catching the breeze.

Stopped at a traffic light, I noticed the passengers seated in the car alongside mine. Three fellow travelers, all staring at Cooper with genuine smiles spread across their faces. I smiled back. As my smile, and the accompanying good feelings, lasted for the rest of the long drive home, I found myself thinking about the power of joyfulness.

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that lately more of us are so busy, so stressed, so worried about the next bill, the next deadline, the next day, that those forehead “worry lines” are deepening as our smiles fade.

Smiles, laughter, even joyful squeals fill my day as an elementary physical education teacher. When lessons go well, students learn something new - whether it’s a skill, a concept, a connection, or a challenge - and experience a level of success as they practice. This purposeful achievement brings about a sense of accomplishment and confidence. The cries of “I did it!” or “I’m good at this!” echo through the gym, and students carry that feeling back to their classrooms, out to the playground for recess, and hopefully all the way back home. With flushed cheeks and sweaty hairlines, these kids will tell you that PE is fun - and it should be!

“When movement is experienced as joy, it adorns our lives, makes our days go better, and gives us something to look forward to. When movement is joyful and meaningful, it may even inspire us to do things we never thought possible.” (Kretchmar, 2008)

There are those who believe that labeling something as “fun” diminishes its importance or value. “Not everything can be ‘fun’ all the time,” they cry. The serious tasks of life should be reinforced, encouraged, forced even.

Joy, I argue, is a secret ingredient to success, and joy is not antithetical to hard or important work. In fact, joy is often a response to achieving one’s goal as result of hard work.

Case in point: Several weeks ago, 544 elementary students experienced this type of joy as they competed in this year’s Elementary Cross-Country Meet, the largest such race in the state. Fourth and fifth graders from all across the Mat-Su Valley set their goals, trained their bodies, and competed against their personal bests and their fellow competitors. No one would argue against the hard work required to race a couple of miles, or the joy that filled the faces of the runners who cross the finish line to achieve their goals.

School is hard work. Sports are hard work. Life is hard work. By creating and nurturing the joy in the activity, we can achieve more, enjoy more, and inspire more.

Nancy Blake teaches physical education at Goose Bay Elementary School.