If you do not yet know this about me, I am certain you will come to know it soon. I love good quotes.

I find the right quotes are inspiring — succinct nuggets that jolt my brain into thinking about ideas in a new way. They can offer fresh perspectives or help clarify something that seemed muddled and complicated. I love a bolt of inspiration and I think we all need that from time to time.

For some of us, that inspiration may come from certain words strung together in the right way. For others, inspiration may be a few chords of music that put us at ease or a breath of fresh air that fills our hearts with clarity of purpose.

I have a feeling that many of us — myself included — also take inspiration from the students we see around us.

It’s OK for us to feel frustrated or overwhelmed sometimes. But when that happens, I hope you are able to come back to whatever it is that gives you inspiration. A quote. Nature. Music. Watching students learn.

These are the thoughts that came to me after I read this quote, which is more of a short poem, by Tyler Knott Gregson.

Promise me
you will not spend
so much time
treading water
and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget,
truly forget,
how much you have always loved
to swim.

I hope we can all keep our heads above water during whatever challenges we may face. And above all, I hope we can all remember why it is we love to swim.