One of the great things about being a teacher (aside from the enormous paycheck, the self regulated and motivated clientele, and the high esteem in which society holds us), is the ever present candy jar in the staff kitchen.
Recently, I reached for my go-to snack, a fun-size pack of peanut M&Ms, only to discover that “fun-size” in this instance meant only a single M&M. Whoever was in charge of quality control was asleep at the wheel- or had a much different idea of fun than I do.
When I brought the package to my learners to show them what had happened, the reactions were predictable:
“What a rip-off!”
“That sucks!”
“You should sue!”
But one young man had a different take:
“I’ll give you 5 bucks for it!”
The others were aghast. Why on earth would someone not only not be offended, but offer actual American dollars for a single M&M?
“It’s cool. It’s probably the only one. I wonder how it got there,” was the kiddo’s reply.
And I thought I was the teacher. This young Ted Lasso just took us to school!
There’s so much wisdom there. We have limited control- or rather, the illusion of control- over the events in our lives. What we do have control over is our reaction, the ability to take a pause and yes, be curious about those events.
This is the ultimate empowerment, the highest form of self- reliance.
We can choose our response.
In life, especially after a significant event like divorce, things often don’t go the way we expect. But much like that single M&M, how we view those moments can make all the difference. How we choose to handle whatever comes our way and our attitude toward our own agency is far more influential on the future than the events themselves.
Every day we’re given opportunities to react in ways that either limit or empower us. Life may not always give us what we expect, but we get to decide how we interpret and respond to those moments. By embracing curiosity, we can shift our mindset from feeling cheated by life’s ‘rip-offs’ to recognizing the potential in the unexpected.
Next time life hands you a single M&M, pause. Ask yourself—what might I discover here if I choose curiosity over judgment? It’s in these moments that we reclaim our power and find purpose, not in what happens to us, but in how we choose to respond.
