The Size of Your Dreams, - [good books for high schoolers txt] 📗

problem is that these moments are fleeting.”

“So we make the cards to remind us of the goals we made during those times of clarity?” I asked.

“Exactly. Then they keep us on track during the blah moments. For me, sometimes I want to train for the marathon; other times I’d rather sit on the couch with a beer and watch football. The notecards may be my voice, but they’re my voice of vision. Any time that I think of skipping my workout, I read my card, and it’s like my higher-self whispering in my ear.”

“But isn’t it possible,” I asked, “that you can have a moment of clarity and still be wrong? Can’t you have a rock bottom moment, say when you’re struggling in biology, and suddenly see that it would be so much better to study law. What happens if you make my notecard and law isn’t for you after all? Maybe you’re best off sticking it through with medicine, or switching to engineering?”

“The notecards help you clarify that as well. Just because you write them doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with them for life. When I read my cards, I normally hear the voice of my higher-self. I know the goals on my card are what I want, and reading them helps me to refocus my energy. But periodically, when I read a card the goal doesn’t move me at all. I don’t hear the voice of my higher-self, I hear only delusion.”

“What do you do then?” Christy asked.

“I tear up the card.”

Christy’s brow creased. She’d never given up on anything. “Just like that?” “Normally I’ll wait a day or two to make sure the feeling is consistent. Otherwise, I’d be in danger of trashing all my goals every time I get into a bad mood. But if nothing shifts, I tear it up.”

Darnell picked at his cuticles, something he usually did during tests. “So if you keep not liking what the card says, you know you’ve set the wrong goal?” “Or the wrong steps or the wrong date. Once you learn how to interpret your emotional reactions, they’ll guide you toward your true goals as well as the ideal path to manifest them.”

* * *

The next day, we rehashed our questions from the day before, even though we knew the answers. I wasn’t the only one still trying to get my head around the concept. One thing that had become clear, Mr. Griffin said, “is that you guys aren’t ready to work on a greater vision for your lives. At this point, it’s best to choose one small goal to focus on.”

Late in the class, Jarod raised his hand. “Mr. Griffin, perhaps if there were some grade incentives tied to the cards it would help us try them out.”

“Grade incentives?” Mr. Griffin asked.

Darnell perked up. “Yeah, like if we got an automatic A in math if we made these cards and stuck to them.”

Mr. Griffin raised his eyebrows. “For the opportunity to help you get your life on track, I have to give you an automatic A?”

Jarod said, “It doesn’t have to be an A. but an incentive would certainly help us stick to it.”

The bell rang. “I’ll think your idea over, Jarod. See you all tomorrow.”

“Remind me, what were we talking about yesterday?” Mr. Griffin asked with a grin as we took our seats the next day.

“Grade incentives,” Jarod said. “You said you’d think them over.”

“And I did. Do you really feel that an incentive would help you make and stick to the cards?”

“Yes,” Jarod said.

“Does everyone feel this way?”

The rest of us said, “Yes.”

“It’s not enough to just read them in math class. The most important times to read your cards are first thing in the morning to set your intentions for the day, and immediately before bed, so they truly penetrate your unconscious mind. To see their effectiveness, you’ll have to commit to doing this for at least 30 days. Are you all willing to do that?”

We all said, “Yes.”

“The problem is, how will I know if you’ve done them? If there’s a grade incentive, then there’s also an incentive to lie.”

“We can use an app,” I suggested. “Each time we read our card, we check off the app. You’ll get a notice with the time we did it.”

“Interesting idea, Kelvin, but what if one of you claims you read the card but forgot to check off the app?”

Christy said, “We can put a note on the bottom of our cards saying ‘check off the app.’ Then if there’s no check on the app, you’ll know we didn’t do it.”

“Does everyone agree that if the app does not report that you read off the card, you won’t get credit for reading it that time?” Mr. Griffin asked.

We agreed.

“Very well. I found an app that would work last night. I’ll send you the link after class.”

“Wait,” I said. “You already thought about an app?”

“Once you brought up grade incentives, it made sense to have a way to keep track.”

“Then why didn’t you tell us about it?”

“I’m not here to give you answers, but to help you work them out. Didn’t it feel better to come up with the solution on your own?”

I was annoyed at his ploy but had to admit that it had felt good when I made the suggestion. “I suppose great minds think alike.”

“In my experience, it’s the opposite,” Mr. Griffin said. “Extraordinary minds are original. Ordinary minds think alike. Or perhaps I should say that those who don’t actively grow their minds think alike, for every human mind can be extraordinary.”

Was he calling me ordinary? Or insinuating that I wasn’t growing my mind?

“Does this mean you’ll do the grade incentives?” Jarod asked.

“I’m willing to give them a shot. But on two conditions. One, I’m only going to offer them to those students who genuinely feel the grade incentives will help them. Intrinsic motivation always trumps incentives in my mind. But I will give it as a tool for those who need it. How many of you feel you need this?”

At this point, I was already curious to try out the cards. While I understood his point about intrinsic motivation, I wasn’t dumb enough to turn down a grade incentive. I eagerly raised my hand with the rest of the class.

“Fine. It can apply to all of you. Second, I will only do it for students who will commit, right now, that once you have a card, you will read it twice a day for 30 days. Even though you don’t have your cards yet, once you commit, there is no backing out. Whoever doesn’t wish to commit can still participate at their own pace, but will not qualify for the grade incentives. Who is ready to commit right now?”

Again, all of us raised our hands.

“Very well, then I have a contract for you all to sign. Get in line and sign one by one.”

Mr. Griffin brought out a bunch of papers from his desk. “I’ve already signed my name and dated these. You just need to sign and print your names below.”

The pages he held were full of text, written in what looked like 8 point font. Darnell got up to the desk first and signed his name in the tiny space between the end of the text and the bottom of the page. I was next. The text began, “This is a contract between Mr. Griffin (herein “Mr. Griffin” or “teacher”) and the students in his fifth-period trigonometry class (herein “student” or “students”)…”

It would take me a full ten minutes to read the entire thing; maybe more, as it seemed all written in legalese. Sensing Jarod’s impatience behind me, I quickly signed my name at the bottom as Darnell had. Neither Jarod nor Christy wasted their time with even trying to read over the text, just signed and returned to their seats.

Darnell seemed particularly pleased. “This is going to be the easiest math class ever! I can’t believe I get an A for just reading this notecard twice a day.”

“An A?” Mr. Griffin placed the signed contracts in a drawer, locked it, and dropped the key in his pocket. “That wasn’t the agreement.”

“Sure it was,” Darnell said. “We talked about it yesterday.”

“You suggested that yesterday. But the grade incentives weren’t your idea—they were Jarod’s. He was clear that the incentive didn’t have to be an automatic A.”

“So I’ll still have to study math?” Darnell asked. “Bummer. But at least it should help. What do I get, another ten points on my average or something?”

“You don’t get anything, Darnell. You lose points if you don’t follow through.”

“Lose points?” Jarod said. “That wasn’t our deal.”

“Of course it was. It was written very clearly on the contract you all signed.”

“But we didn’t even read the contracts.”

“I noticed. Would you like to read them now?” Mr. Griffin handed around unsigned contracts, keeping the signed ones safely locked in his desk.

“Wait.” Christy’s eyes bulged over her copy. “I lose five points on my overall grade every time I forget to read my card?”

“Even if you remember to read the card, but forget to check the app,” Mr. Griffin said. “Remember, that was your suggestion.”

Heat rose to my cheeks. “If we forget more than five times we fail math?”

“Correct. Remember, I only gave this option to those who asked for a grade incentive. I always prefer intrinsic motivation. But you thought this would help you, so I offered it as a tool.”

“A tool?” I said. “It sounds more like a punishment.”

“Punishments, or the threat of them, can be great tools. You’re all old enough to drive. How many of you try to stay within the speed limit?”

Silence.

“How many of you regularly go more than 20 miles per hour over the speed limit?”

Jarod raised his hand.

“The rest of you, what keeps you from driving that fast?”

“Over 20 miles an hour the tickets are like $160,” Christy said.

“Yeah,” Darnell said, “and my dad would take away my driving privileges if he ever caught me going that fast.”

“None of you reduce your speed out of concern for safety?” Mr. Griffin asked.

No one responded.

“Teenagers.” Mr. Griffin shook his head. “Do you see why society holds the threat of punishment over your heads? That’s how they keep the roads safe.”

A teacher intentionally tricking us into signing an agreement not in our interests? Who does this guy think he is? “I don’t think it was fair putting it on the contract and not telling us,” I said.

“Kelvin, do you remember what I told you my goals were for this year?”

I clenched my jaw and mumbled, “Something about helping us lead extraordinary lives.”

“Precisely. Fairness was not among my goals.”

We all groaned.

“Let this be a lesson to you. You must think hard about what you put on your cards because they’ll give you laser focus toward these goals. Elements left off of your cards can get squeezed out.” Mr. Griffin sat back on his desk. “Like fairness in my case.”

“So now we’re stuck?” Darnell asked.

“No, you’re not stuck.”

Darnell sat straighter. “You mean you’ll let us take the contracts back?”

“No. That’s another lesson I wanted to teach in a way that you’d never forget. You’ll each sign hundreds, if not thousands of contracts in your life. Those who give them to you will primarily be looking out for their interests, not yours. Always be aware of what you bind yourself to.”

Darnell’s eyebrows pinched. “But you said we’re not stuck?”

“You’re not. You’re welcome to transfer to another math class or