When Do You Let Go of Your Grail?

There's a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Elsa, the German who seeks the Holy Grail is trying not to fall into a deep pit and the Holy Grail is on a little ledge just out of reach. Indiana Jones is trying to save her and has her hand. Yet, she is reaching for the grail. And as she reaches, at a pivotal moment, we see that she cannot have both. She cannot reach for the Holy Grail and be safely gripped by Indiana. Unwilling to give up on the grail, she slips and falls into the abyss.

Immediately, Indiana Jones now slips and his father, Henry, grips his hand. Indiana finds himself in the same situation as Elsa as he stretches to get the Grail. In a twist of irony, the Grail means so much to Henry who has sought the grail his whole life. And yet, finally, Henry realizes that he wants his son Indiana more than the Grail. Indiana is his Grail.

Finally, Henry gets Indiana's attention and says,

“Indiana. Indiana. Let it go.”

Saying yes to something means saying no to other things. We all have choices.

Sometimes excellence is fighting for what you want tenaciously.

Other times, greatness happens when we let it go and live to set out on a new adventure. And still other times, we figure out that what we wanted most was right in front of us all the time.

This post is day 61 of 80 days of excellence. I've created an email list below for those of you want to be emailed the full posts written as part of this series.

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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Vicki Davis writes The Cool Cat Teacher Blog for classroom teachers everywhere
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