Tēnā koutou, Malo e lelei, Tālofa lava, Bula vinaka, Good afternoon.

Over the past ten weeks, I have been fortunate to enjoy morning tea meetings with groups of students at different year levels to discuss all things related to school and learning more about the teenager perspective. It has been an enjoyable and enlightening experience to hear from the young women who volunteered to share their thoughts and ideas on a wide range of topics; a whole-school lesson to perfect our karakia, opening the library earlier over the cooler months, the pride of school uniform, how much mayonnaise is in school lunches, more mixers with the lads over at Waitaki Boys’ and a proposal for a WGHS signet ring were some of the many topics on the table. We often discussed and debated ideas with such sentiment that the Period 3 bell went unnoticed (well, I hope this was the reason why) and on reflection, for me, the meetings were heartwarming and provided reassurance that, if these young women are anything to go by, as a school we are heading in the right direction; building a positive school culture, nurturing the wellbeing of our students and on track to fulfill our mission of inspiring personal excellence in learning and life.

As is so natural these days, at some point in all of the morning tea meetings, we turned to talking about the disruptions caused by illness over the first half of the year. Few of us here have been lucky enough to avoid this in some form or another and I was so impressed with the attitudes of those I met with, towards this recent adversity that I was reminded of the 2nd-century philosopher and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius’ who wrote:

"True understanding is to see the events of life in this way: ‘You are here for my benefit, though rumour paints you otherwise.’

And everything is turned to one's advantage when he greets a situation like this: You are the very thing I was looking for.

Truly whatever arises in life is the right material to bring about your growth and the growth of those around you. This, in a word, is art - and this art called 'life' is a practice suitable to both men and gods. Everything contains some special purpose and a hidden blessing; what then could be strange or arduous when all of life is here to greet you like an old and faithful friend?"

Ancient writing can be a little perplexing, but in a more modern translation, Aurelius is suggesting that no experience is wasted, that it is our attitude towards what happens to us in life that determines the outcome, that we are best to live life as though everything is rigged in our favour. The crux of his philosophy is the notion that while we cannot control what happens to us, we can control our reactions to the events of our lives - and this gives us immense strength and freedom. Aurelius's own life is proof positive of this maxim; the emperor faced great struggles throughout his life, and his reign was marred by warfare, disease and personal loss. Aurelius accepted that trials and challenges were an unavoidable part of life, but his belief that life and the universe were fundamentally good helped him to accept the tough stuff. He even went one step further, arguing that obstacles are actually our greatest opportunities for growth and advancement. They force us to re-examine our path, find a new way, and ultimately empower ourselves by practicing virtues like patience, generosity and courage.

It is easier said than done, but according to Aurelius, life’s happiness depends on the quality of our thoughts, and adopting this philosophy towards the obstacles that we face now and in the future, could very well be the difference between giving up and trying just that little bit harder, between failure and success, and ultimately between dissatisfaction and fulfillment in our lives. So we really have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by applying Aurelius’ approach to our own lives.

Elizabeth Koni 

Principal