The storms of life

Today was a rainy, stormy day....and it was a rainy, stormy day within my soul as well.  There is so much uncertainty in life now.   Life is throwing me so many curve balls...and I have never been very athletic...so I am certainly not good at catching them or hitting them...or whatever one does with a curve ball.  The future is looking uncertain and a little scary.  I took today....and I let myself just feel it all...I let myself wallow a little and think of options and play out worst case scenarios.  I thought about so many dear ones who are in similar circumstances.  I thought about others whom I dearly love that are struggling with issues in their lives.  I wept a tear for all of us...and I wondered why it must be this way.

 But that is enough of that.  That is going to get me nowhere fast.  All I know for sure is that I have today.  I don't know what tomorrow holds.  So there is no sense in worrying and obsessing over it.  I will put today and it's accompanying feelings of doubt behind me....and face tomorrow resolute in the belief that the sun will shine again.  Today I ran to get out of the rain.  I ran from the storms of my life.  But tomorrow......tomorrow I will dance in the rain...and make the best of whatever life hands me...and believe.  With everything in me, I will believe....that the storm will pass and I will feel the sun shine on me again.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."

~ Vivian Greene

Sunday Night Inspiration

It's Sunday night and I went searching for some inspiration, because I am feeling used up and worn out...and I am not sure I can do Monday...but I know I must.  So, I am finishing up some chores and getting some rest and I am choosing to believe that Monday will bring with it beautiful gifts.

"Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing

can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity

to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel

that there is something in them

To look at the sunny side of everything

and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best,

and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others

as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past

and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times

and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself

that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,

and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,

not in loud words but great deeds.

To live in faith that the whole world is on your side

so long as you are true to the best that is in you.” 

~ Christian D. Larson

Jenna-Kate

I got to see one of my very favorite people ever in a show at SUNY New Paltz tonight. Jenna has been one  of my favorite people and friends for a few years now.   I haven't had the joy of seeing her on stage in a few years now.  I would highly recommend "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" to anyone looking for something fun to do.  It runs tomorrow afternoon and also the weekend after next.  It was very entertaining and the cast was phenomenal.  Of course my favorite was Jenna, who I have adopted as one of my own years ago.   No matter what she is in, she always will be my favorite.  I just love watching her in action!!   It brings back so many memories of her growing up!!  So much fun to see her perform and so heartwarming just to be able to see her again!!  Love you Jenna-Kate....you will always be one of my very favorite actresses!! 

Just in case you want tickets...   https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?t=tix&e=aca35b3b720f329749d22358bd76fec1

"I love people who make me laugh.  I honestly think it's the thing I love most, to laugh.  It cures a multitude of ills.  It's probably the most important thing in a person."

~ Audrey Hepburn

Autumn sighting

"Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year."

~ Chadd Slugg

Choosing Humanity

Tonight I spent my evening honoring this guy...my boss but more importantly my friend for 17 years.  I should have known my life was about to change, when I arrived home the evening before my first day at my new job to a phone message from Bob, welcoming me and telling me not to be nervous.  And if that wasn't enough.....I should have known, when on my first day he talked to me not about lesson plans and class schedules....but improving the quality of life for these kids.

Tonight there were stories told, memories shared...Bob was humble and gracious about all that he has done...all that he has created in "Bob's School."   We laughed, we cried.  We laughed...because Bob is...well....a one of a kind character...and oh the stories that are out there floating around about him.  We cried....because we miss him in the every day...and because of how very honored we are to know him.

But of all the things that were said tonight....there was one thing in particular, that just sticks with me...that has added to some things being discussed recently between I and my colleagues...and that I just can't shake. One of Bob's friends was recounting experiences of their early days working with kids.  He spoke about kids that were not successful in the regular classroom setting....and how they took them out of the classroom and took them hiking and took them to farms and ..."let them enjoy being human beings."

With all the changes in education and the introduction of the common core....I am left wondering....often ....if the humanity has been taken out of education.  Many people have a story of someone....some teacher who somehow inspired them to be better...go further...reach higher.  Not every teacher is stellar....I have experienced...painfully....some who are not. But for every teacher who isn't so great....there are 5 phenomenal educators who are totally committed to what they do.  The teachers who have inspired have not done it through textbooks, or exams or requirements that needed to be met.  They have done it by seeing something in their student...a spark, or just knowing that a student could do more with a little encouragement or maybe some unorthodox means.  They have used creative ways to engage that student and make them realize their own potential and have helped them strive for more.  I worry that such humanity is being pushed out of the classroom....out of education by regulations and achievement levels and exams.  I worry about the next generation of kids who are losing out on some teachable moments, some inspiring teachers....because those teachers are trying to improve scores and keep their jobs.  It's hard to dance with the devil on your back...my new favorite saying...because that is what I see teachers being asked to do.  And in the end...when humanity is taken out of education...the kids will suffer, and our society will suffer.

And so tonight, I am inspired by Bob... yet again, because he has inspired me a zillion times before, to keep the humanity in my classroom.  In spite of the schedules and achievements and testing....I will do what Bob and I discussed  on my very first day...and what has always been of primary importance to me.  I will do what I can to improve the quality of life for all of my students....and all of those I work with as well.  I choose  to keep the humanity in my classroom.....I will love and laugh and encourage.  I am not saying the other stuff isn't important...but the priority for me is that they "enjoy being human beings."  And when that does not become my priority any more....then I will know it is time for me to stop.

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."

~ Benjamin Disraeli

Insignificant?

Sometimes it just seems like we are so insignificant.  There are so many people that are just like us.  We're a dime a dozen it seems, dispensable and easily replaced. The world is a competitive place and it's hard....if even possible to get to the top. The world has become all about numbers....and we are just another one.   We look around us at people who are more important, at nature in all it's magnificence, at technology and tall structures and wonders of the world and it all seems to be so much more and we wonder why we are here?  What good can we possibly do in this world?

But it does take all of us in this world.....and where we make the difference, where we are remembered, how we live on... is through the love that we give as we travel this road together.  It is the little acts of kindness that we may  sometimes not even be aware of.  It is the sharing of hours and days and smiles and tears.  It is easing the way for others....holding a hand, a shoulder to cry on, an outstretched hand.   It is sharing life...the joke, the laugh...the kindness shared without being asked....without needing thanks.  It is believing in someone, encouraging them, celebrating with them, and sometimes crying with them and then getting back up and dusting ourselves off and trying again  It is being there...and it is caring....and it is showing someone else....that they are someone to celebrate....that they are important to the world.....because they are important to our world.  I honestly, don't know if there is a greater gift that we can offer.

There is so much good and beautiful...so many wonders within each of us..... and we need to nurture and water those seeds of love in each other so that we may bloom and grow into all that we can be...and share those wonders with each other.  That is what makes life worth living.  That is what makes us valuable...and how we change the world....by loving and giving and sharing.....and that is what makes us stand out as the only one that could live and spread love in our own unique way.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

~ Maya Angelou

Believe

Sometimes we just need to believe that there are better things out there for us...for all of us....even if we can't see them.  And if we do, if we really believe, and face each day looking for the sun, looking for the possibities...then one day we will see the light begin to shine through the darkness to a new tomorrow.

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls."

~ Joseph Campbell