Tale of Two Crossing Guards

I’ve been doing the school routine for over ten years now and I’ve had the chance to observe a lot of different crossing guards. There are two that stand out in my mind, mostly because they are complete opposites.

Crossing Guard #1

Day after day as I drove my kids to school, I noticed the angry expression on our crossing guard’s face. She was constantly on the lookout for any misstep by drivers and was very quick to communicate her disapproval. It was a daily occurrence to see her in a rage, yelling and waving her arms at cars. I was scared of her and certainly remembered to follow all of the rules so I didn't incur her wrath! Drivers were doing much better at keeping the kids safe but it was certainly out of fear for this crossing guard.

Crossing Guard #2

I still remember her friendly expression and mannerisms as I turned the corner for the first time. We had just moved and I was trying to figure out our new neighborhood. Her smile and wave helped me feel right at home. Day after day, car after car, she smiles and waves. I look forward to seeing this crossing guard's friendly face. I am now very familiar with the area and want to do my part and help the crossing guard keep the kids safe. I love having her friendly face to remind me of the rules. 

I think we have two crossing guards in our head. Sometimes we keep the first crossing guard on duty full time! She’s constantly watching and pointing out our mistakes. We don’t want to mess up so out of fear we push ourselves to do better. Notice that in both examples I choose to drive more safely but the motivations in each scenario are very different. We all want to improve and make changes but what if we invited crossing guard #2 to be our mental guide? We can be super hard on ourselves or we can use self-kindness to motivate change. 

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