Posts Tagged ‘health’

Balance. MiShwna Moore seems to have little of it in her life. Why? Because Charleston County School District (CCSD) officials have crowned the superior Principal Moore the heroine who will save an additional struggling school for them (With only a stipend and not double the salary which IMHO she should receive.). And she accepted the crown. So have many of us in our lives. There are lessons here.

As reported in a 2003 Post and Courier article, Principal Moore is a professional who works hard at her job, creates success and is recognized for that success. Her almost miraculous turn-around of Sanders-Clyde Elementary School prompted the CCSD to do what many in other businesses frequently do; give a high achiever more to do for less money. The business maxim seems to be that if you have one successful person, give them more to be successful at. Never mind sustaining success and making sure that one doesn’t kill the goose that laid the “golden egg of success.”

CCSD asked Principal Moore to take on the turn-around of another failing school, Fraser Elementary. In the Post and Courier on Saturday, May 10th, Principal Moore was lauded in a High Profile article. Now, don’t get me wrong, we should laud her to the high heavens, but we should also encourage her to preserve herself. Principal Moore reported in the recent article, that she rarely sleeps more than four hours a night.

Enough sleep we’ve been recently told is one of the most underrated preservers of good health. We know that adequate sleep allows the body to heal itself. It supports a vital immune system that resists disease. It helps prevent diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. We also know that good sleep can be undermined by stress which Principal Moore admits dogs her thoughts. Principal Moore said in the May 10th article that she cries with worry about making sure both schools achieve. Stress? this woman’s stress level is off the chart!

Stress can sometimes be counteracted by loving relationships, however, Reporter Diette Correge writes in her May 10th article of Principal Moore, “She talks about being single and not having kids or a significant other, and she says she gave her beloved Shih Tzu dog to her mother last year because she didn’t have enough time to take care of her.”

Today the Post and Courier contains an editorial that says that we should “Learn from Principal Moore”. Well, yes we should. About perseverance, about using all our abilities to do a job. About doing our very best. But we should also learn our limits. The unspoken message in this editorial, and the story from May 10th is that we should take on more than we can do to the detriment of our health and without the correct compensation. I am not damning Principal Moore. She is working to achieve success the best way that she knows how in our culture that touts workaholism as the goal for all high achieving professionals. She’s doing what we define for professionals as success. She’s working harder.

Hard work is essential to success, but so is being alive. We must get over our Puritanical notions that hard work is the only path to success. We must learn to seek balance. Rest, exercise, laughter, partnership– in the company of hard work. We must realize that stress is the number one cause of disease. So, I say to Principal Moore, delegate, train others to do what you are doing, work hard yes, but balance, protect your health, think of your future. If you want to be around to see the success that I am sure you will achieve at Fraser Elementary, seek balance.