"You never know when one act, or one word of encouragement can change a life forever."I read this quote earlier today as it floated across my Twitter stream, and it's been floating around in my head ever since. I think this is what I'm trying to do with this blog. One kind act or word of encouragement for myself every day.
~Zig Ziglar
Today's kind act for myself was to stop a bit of negative thinking. I woke up later than I had intended and started almost berating myself for the loss of time in what's left of my Christmas break. So, I stopped myself and had a little chat...with myself. "Hey, it's okay," I said to myself. "Obviously you needed some extra sleep today. You're gonna need it once school starts up again. It's okay."
Myself tried to argue. "It's NOT okay! I have all this school work that I've put off doing. I should have been getting that done during these two weeks! What have I accomplished?" "Well," I answered myself, "let's look at what you accomplished. You did a lot of cleaning around the apartment; cleaning that was well-past due. You did some reading, something you never make time for when you're teaching. And you spent some quality time with family, including your eighty-eight year old grandma. How can you say you didn't accomplish anything?"
Hmmm...you know what? I'm right. No, I didn't do nearly as much school work as I had planned to do. But I took some time for myself over break, and that...is...okay!
I have to say, after this conversation with myself this morning I felt surprisingly calm the rest of the day. Pretty cool, eh?
Your post made me smile, mainly because I had a very similar conversation with myself today. Good on you for doing things for yourself over break; your students will benefit from that. Ok, back to the school work I'm putting off :)
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Meredith @msstewart
Love this post. I felt the same this morning...thinking about Monday morning at school after 2 weeks away. You are so right about stopping that negative thinking. I, too had a conversation with myself after reading this, thks :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess teachers think alike. I woke up with that thought process too. I decided that I will have plenty of work facing me in the next few weeks and I need to savor this time while I have it. Hope you enjoyed your day!
ReplyDeleteI started to panic when I read my school email today until I realized that I am still on break. Then I took a deep breath and made sure I had some fun. Life is short! I am trying to be positive in 2010 too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I often lose those kinds of conversations with myself -this gives me hope.
ReplyDeleteIt's always helpful to know that you're not the only person experiencing struggles. Perhaps this is just one of those "teacher things" that we all deal with. Wanting to use every available moment to get school work done. Lord knows there's plenty of work that needs to be done! But what about us? When do we get to have time for us? And what happens if we don't get that time?
ReplyDeleteThat's my worry.
Enjoy your day and make the most of it. These breaks are to be savoured.
ReplyDeleteI needed that post. I was doing the same kind of negative anxious talk. After reading your post I decided I would just continue to chill for another day. I did get some school work done and a little cleaning too. I feel more relaxed thinking about what I did that was right rather than worrying over what I did wrong. Thanks!
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