By: Blonde One
This is a well known phrase to many parents with children eager to get to December 25th or a birthday party or any number of exciting things, but I heard a new twist on it today. As you may have gathered by now, the highlight of any working day for me is anything to do with DofE. I have often said to colleagues that if they have some boring stuff to talk to me or ask me about, putting the phrase DofE at the beginning will always make me feel better about it, even if it has nothing to do with DofE. It goes like this:
Colleague: “Please can you come to a three hour meeting that starts at 4pm?” Me: “What, are you serious? Not likely!”
Or: Colleague: “DofE. Please can you come to a three hour meeting that starts at 4pm?” Me: “Yes, of course!”
You see, it has this magical effect on me and turns any bad day into an amazing one. Today was absolutely no exception. I have been working with my first Gold group who are working really hard getting their very ambitious 2014 expedition prepared. I left them for a while whilst they completed a form about their experiences of DofE and its impact on their lives. I am not ashamed to say that the results brought a tear to my eye. Without the help or advice of any adult they came up with a phrase that will stay with me forever and totally sums up the ethos that surrounds them.
It goes like this: Good things don’t come to those that wait, they come to those that work hard to get them.
It’s a perfect phrase to sum up their work ethic. I’m convinced that throughout their lives, they will have many, many good things come to them.
Oh no, Blonde tear alert … what a very mature thing to say and how great to have been even a little bit involved in that realisation.
And when bad times come , hard work and common sense are your best protection. WOW! It would have been good to be able to work that one out when I was their age! (I was, once!)