“Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You’ve all that the greatest of men have had…”
I was terrified of my Elementary School Principal. Scared straight like a child prisoner waiting on the next meal and recess. There were silent lunches though…monitored by trained faculty and staff. Every now and then someone was daring enough to pop a bag of chips just to get a rise out of the student body. You weren’t about to catch me with my mouth wide open during the uproar though. My group of friends and I developed our own sign language for things like ‘pass the napkin.’ Or, ‘do you want the rest of that?’
Yeah. THAT serious.
My belief? That the silent lunches were designed solely to hear her the plock of her pumps she made her midday appearance.
“There she goes,” I would think, because damned if I said it out loud.
“Scary by default. Intimidating by stature. In retrospect, for no reason at all.” -K. Mallett-Brunson
This was back when you could get ‘the paddle.’ And even though my momma had already acknowledged that ain’t nobody gone touch me but her, everyday I felt like it could be me next.
Me, the good Brittanie, hemmed up in an office I had never seen before getting beat for any reason at all. That’s just how she made me feel. That ANYBODY could get it.
Like I said, she would make her appearance during lunch time; a notebook in hand. In it would be the referrals for the day. “I know one thing…” she would start, holding the pink referrals in the air. In my mind I’m thinking “Now who the hell would be so inclined to show their ass that bad to meet toe to toe with this woman?” And then I would also ask the Lord to please spare me. Recess was only ten minutes away. She’d read those names on those different referrals. Same bad kids from any other day, and relief would find me. Another day survived. Another half an hour of recess. Thank You Lord.
The next day, and the next day would be the same thing. That midday appearance, and the morning announcements. The announcements included the usual: things that didn’t necessarily concern me, the lunch menu, and this poem. We were safe from much of her raft, because we couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see us.
…but this poem. Every morning. The same thing.
Please believe me when I say that before you left Elementary you AT LEAST knew the first verse of Edgar A. Guest’s famous inspirational poem “Equipment.”
“Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You’ve all that the greatest of men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use if you would be wise.”
Every morning. To the point that it was annoyingly funny.
Why we needed to hear it every morning, I do not know. It was that little bit of good that the big bad wolf offered, and being the little piggies that we were I honestly didn’t know what to do with it or what it meant to me. Throughout my school aged years my peers and I would occasionally joke about the poem, our silent lunches, and the undeniable fear she instilled in each of even without personal contact. It was funny then, and still funny now.
“Figure it out for yourself my lad.”
Heard over and over, and though I knew it, I didn’t KNOW it.
Figure WHAT out? And what for?
Life and its crazy beautiful self has a way of showing up and showing out sometimes. Most times all is good. But there’re those other hours in the day, those long weeks during the months, and maybe months of a single year that frustration and uncertainty can turn all that’s good into a thing of “Is it worth it?” “Am I worthy?”
A lot can happen in a year, and this year for me I can honestly say has been sooooo good to me. The unimaginable has happened. It’s like happiness was packed up and sealed just for me to open it now…in THIS season. I’m not complaining, but I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t worried. Worried that maybe things are TOO good to be true. Worried that happy will run out, and only bad is somehow reserved for later. It’s no different than being afraid of getting in trouble at school, knowing there was nothing troublesome about me. Just that fear of ‘what if.’
…but there WERE the ‘what ifs,’ and the bad weather during the seasons where I felt like I just couldn’t get right. I’m working on not being so much of a worrier, and sometimes while I’m putting in that work to just be happy and nothing else the one thing that soothes me is “You’ve all the greatest of men have had…” I’m well equipped. For anything and any season I have always had just what I needed. Even an ounce of good faith work favors.
The poem, recited day after day in Elementary resonates with me more and more as an adult. Life, like my principal, can be scary sometimes unpredictable even, but what life is a cupcake on Sunday mornings with sunshine and hallmark cards?
Life is what it is, and also what we make up of it.
“Scary by default. Intimidating by stature. In retrospect, for no reason at all.”
I had no reason to fear her…really. I was never in trouble, and I don’t even remember a single time ever coming face to face with her. The unknown was what I feared most.
As I step into this new season, my purpose, and my calling I am reminded daily that I am well equipped for what’s new, what’s next and what’s now. I look forward to sharing my new work, my writing, and a bit of my little world.
For now, I share one of my favorite poems. I wish you the best during this season; mornings of strong coffee, good faith, and encouragement.
Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You've all that the greatest of men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use if you would be wise.
With this equipment they all began,
So start for the top and say "I can."
Look them over, the wise and great,
They take their food from a common plate
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes,
The world considers them brave and smart.
But you've all they had when they made their start.
You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great if only you will,
You're well equipped for what fight you choose,
You have legs and arms and a brain to use,
And the man who has risen, great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.
You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go.
How much you will study the truth to know,
God has equipped you for life, But He
Lets you decide what you want to be.
Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win,
So figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had,
With your equipment they all began.
Get hold of yourself, and say: "I can."
Edgar A. Guest
