This is Cara's school picture from first grade. It isn't the best picture that has ever been taken of her. I know there is a JCPenney portrait around here somewhere that is better, but it has been a crazy weekend....and tonight, I just wasn't up to the task of searching for it. Look at her. She was such a sweet little girl. I post this picture of her tonight, as she prepares to begin her student teaching tomorrow with a class of first graders. I just can't believe it. Where did all the time go...from this little girl to the 21 year old young woman that she is today.
One of the things that we did on this crazy busy weekend was move her to where she will be living. She will be renting a room with a teacher in a neighboring school district. The woman is lovely, the neighborhood is lovely. But it's the first big change in Cara's life since leaving for college. She's become familiar with Plattsburgh, with the campus, with the places she's lived, with roommates and friends. Now, she finds herself in uncharted territory, She is in a new locale and not surrounded by the college life atmosphere...but a tiny slice of real life. Living amongst people of all ages, and taking the first huge step toward her chosen career.
Cara doesn't appear to ever be too flustered by much. She keeps her emotions under the surface...unlike her younger sister, But I know it must feel strange tonight as she begins living and 'working' in new surroundings, with new people and new and unknown expectations and routines. I have confidence that she will rise to the occasion.
Change can be so scary...it rips us out of the familiar into new and undiscovered people and places. But there is something exciting about it as well. It is the start of a new chapter. An opportunity to take a look at your life and reinvent yourself and your life. It makes me want to change my own old, tired routine in some way, shake it up and make it...and maybe a part of myself... new!
I was posed a question the other day...why are we here? Why am I here? What is my purpose in being here? I have been thinking about that. Am I living the life that I want to live? Am I living how I want to live? Am I living a life that honors what I believe? Am I being true to myself...to my beliefs...to my faith? Is it time for a change? In me? In the way I live life? In my priorities? It is something to reflect upon. If you have read any of what I have written, you know that I try to value each moment... each day. We really never know when our normal, our routine, will change...perhaps in small ways....perhaps in drastic ways. I can't help but think, that as Cara has changed forced upon her, perhaps I should force some change into my life.
And I think tonight, that if I can't change anything else about my life...I can change the way that I look at my life. I can change the way that I look at my circumstances. In changing the way I look at my reality, my reality will change. I will start there. I will start by searching for the positives, the blessings in every situation. I will find the joys and the laughter and the blessings....and I do believe that by doing so, I will change my life and myself...for the better.
" For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again."
~ Eric Roth
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