Motivation Monday! (:

photo credit: Pinterest

While Monday is almost over, the need for motivation never is! 

It's been a while since I have blogged, especially about my search for a new home and a new job, and it's because my present has been so busy that I haven't had time to think about my future, which may be a good thing! 

Over spring break, instead of seriously job and soul searching, I relaxed. I took a breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding, and it was marvelous. I spent time with my best friend and my family and it was exactly what I needed. I actually read a book for fun - not to tell my kids about, not to learn more best practices - just for fun, and it was so necessary for myself. I participated in a creative writing group that I worked to get accepted into, but have neglected due to work and school, and that was so nice to have people recognize me apart from my job or profession. I realized, over spring break, that a large part of my self-identity is wrapped up in my job. I'll leave that for another blog post. (: 

We are in the midst of EOG review, which is a work-out for me and my kids. Critically thinking for 90% of your day is exhausting for everyone, even the grown-up in the room, so it's been a challenge to help my kids adjust, when I can't even get myself together half the time. I can't complain though - my students are such hard workers; their work ethic will put anyone's to shame. My part time job has finally wrapped, and I am so grateful for that opportunity. The world knows I already didn't make enough money, so having a second job has more than helped out with expenses, but it will be nice to have the time back to focus on school and the potential of another job. 

I have an interview for the job in California on Wednesday via Skype, which is very exciting, but at the same time, I am almost numb to the experience. I think my mind has put itself on auto-pilot while job searching, because it's so overwhelming. I get so anxious that I won't be good enough or I won't make the right decision or I won't like the outcome - I worry more about the outcome than I do about the journey, and it shouldn't be that at all. I need to enjoy the journey and be prepared for an outcome either way. Some people would give up a lot for this opportunity, and I have to take advantage of it. So here's to California and good news! 

With Monday winding to a close and Tuesday getting dressed and packing its lunch to report for duty, take a moment to breathe and remember that this is your life. No one else owns it. No one else is owed an explanation or an answer or a justification. It's your's. You do what you want with it - however little or big it is, you do it. If all else fails, just remember Jay-Z and Beyonce are going on tour together this summer and all will be right in the world again. 

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this, why do you worry about the rest?" Luke 12:25-26

Photo credit: Pinterest

Photo credit: Pinterest

Working Woman Wednesday!

Photo courtesy of Pinterest/Bluntcard 

Feeling frustrated? Waiting for greatness? Wishing for fame and fortune? 

Stop, pause, and enjoy #workingwomanwednesday! 

It's been a week since my last post, and while my job search has slowed and I haven't heard much from other schools, my life has still be a whirlwind. I've been having small moments, where I've been rethinking relocating or leaving my current school, and who knows why? My mind and my life are entities of their own. I can make plans, I can fill out applications and I can call and interview, but at the end of the day, if God and the world has another plan for me, then it all doesn't matter. I have had to come to terms with this lately, that there are times when things are legitimately out of my control. That sounds so stupid, especially since I am 24 - you would think I would have learned or observed that by now. I am an obnoxious control freak, bordering on the point of therapy, and up until now, everything I have wanted, at least in a professional sense, I have gotten. This is the first time I have ever had to slow down and wait. 

Realistically, that's neither here nor there, because I have a current job and current cupcakes, who need me and my undivided attention. We are preparing for EOGs and my students and I are preparing for our version of a championship. My students work so hard and are so very wonderful - I couldn't ask for a better class, and after seeing their Case 21 scores yesterday, they don't have such a bad teacher either. (: 

That brings me to my overall point on this halfway rainy, halfway to spring break Wednesday - today, praise yourself. Take a moment to stop and praise yourself. Don't wait for someone else to do it or someone else to notice - you will be waiting forever. Treat yourself kindly and love yourself. Your opinion matters more than anything else. 

This is so very important to me right now, because I am seeking to believe in myself internally as much as I appear believe in myself externally. I want you to do the same thing - make your inner voice match your outer voice. All of those things you want to hear from someone else, make yourself say them. Don't let others influence how you feel about yourself. You have one self - spend your life loving yourself, and what the world thinks won't matter. 

Photo courtesy of Pinterest 

Working Woman Wednesday!

Photo Credit: Kush and Wizdon

Wednesday - my favorite Addams family member, not quite my favorite day of the week, but I am a sucker for alliteration. (: 

There have been so many little moments in this week that have reminded me how grateful I am for my life and the people in it. My students, despite having mock EOGs three days this week, have kept positive spirits and handled it well. My mom has called me twice to wake up, since I forgot to set any alarm (Where do they do that at?) I haven't been to the beach since my senior year of college, so pretty much a million years ago, and my best friend and I planned a two day trip that I could not be more excited about. When you need reminding, your life will remind how much you have and how blessed you are and that's a beautiful thing.  

On the job front, since that was the main purpose for this endeavor, things have quieted. I could not afford to travel to California at such short notice for an interview, so they are working to schedule Skype interviews with me, and I have made a list of places I am interested in. As most in the educational field know, teachers hold onto jobs till the literal last moment, so right now, we are in a waiting game. We can definitely cross any place outside of the US off (for now.) Again, this is a journey - journeys aren't meant to a straight path or even a mapped course. You have to chart your own way. People can come if they want, but remember: success isn't an escalator, it's a staircase. 

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Motivation Monday!

Photo credit: http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php/photo/32471/title/cat-greeting-monday/cat/500

I feel bad for Monday - it gets such a bad wrap. The first day of the work week, the first day after the weekend - it already begins its life being 0-2, but Monday can change if we change the way we approach it. Monday can illuminate its possibilities for you if you can change your first thought in the morning. 

My goal is that every Monday, I will post a list of goals I would like to accomplish for the week and a quote and probably a cat or Beyonce picture (two of my favorite things!) 

Here's to motivation Monday! 

Goals for the Week 

1. Work at least twice - I started a weight loss journey in the summer, and while I have maintained and even lost a few more pounds and inches, I want to build my summer body while it's still a little winter outside. 

2. Grade papers and do report cards - Report cards go out next Monday, and I would like to actually get ahead of the beast, and have them done this week, so I won't spend my weekend drowning in a sea of papers. 

3. Complete a devotional three mornings this week - You can't do it alone. I choose to do it with God. It's a comforting aspect of my life to remember that I don't have to make decisions or choices without the greatest counsel. 

4. Start 100 days of Happy challenge - Lots of people I know are doing the 100 days of Happy challenge and I think it's a great idea. One of my life's missions is that the world sees there are still compassionate, selfless people in the world and what a better way to show the world you love your life and circumstances? Read more about the challenge here: http://100happydays.com/

There you have it - 4 obtainable goals, and the only thing separating me and success is me. We have to overcome that - overcome your own self doubt, which we are all plagued with, and kill this week. Slay it dead like Kentucky did Michigan. This is another opportunity to create the person you want to be and to chase the life you have always desired. 

Quotes 

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." - Albert Einstein 

"May the odds be ever in your favor." - The Hunger Games 

"Be in love with your life, every detail of it." - Jack Kerouac

I wish they all could be California girls...

Yesterday, a representative from the school in California I really, really, really like called me to invite me to an interview. For a moment, I was elated - truly ecstatic. That feeling was quickly followed up with anxiety about what am I leaving behind, what am I sacrificing - such stupid thoughts to have after receiving a call that I have been waiting for. 

Last night, I wallowed in my pity party that I was the only invitee to. I let myself be consumed with fear of losing my best friend, missing my family too much, and thoughts of people forgetting me if I moved away. This morning, though, I had to shake off the hangover from my one person party and remind myself that there was a time in my life when I wasn't afraid of anything, most certainly not moving away. It's time to resurrect that attitude - this is an adventure. I prayed and sought one, and now I've got it - I can't shy away now. 

After the initial shock, I have had to take a step back and review logistics. How will I move my stuff across country? Will Carlos (my cat, the love of my life, my constant man crush monday) like the days long car rides? Will I be another poor, working too hard teacher or can I actually enjoy life? So many questions, very few answers, and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. 

It doesn't matter. Everything will work itself out, and if it doesn't, I can always call my mom. 

So, California, get ready for this ginger - Lucy's on the way! 

Working Woman Wednesday.

A little inspiration to get you going on this #workingwomanwednesday...

GIF credit: http://julielovenbury.com/category/bf/

"For me, an area of moral clarity is: you're in front of someone who's suffering and you have the tools at your disposal to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it, and you act." - Paul Farmer 

credit: Brainy Quotes 

My best friends are ten.

"I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. They answered me: 'Why should any one be frightened by a hat?'

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. Then, I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained." courtesy of GoodReads 

The other day, I was speaking to my friend, my adult friend, and I caught myself saying, "My friend Jane..." My friend immediately stopped me and said, "Jane? Isn't she one of your students?" We laughed it off, and moved on to another topic, but the slip of my tongue gives a lot away about myself. 

My best friends are ten. My students are my friends. I spend more time in their presence than I do with anyone else. Everyone can save their "You shouldn't be their friend" crap for another poor soul, because the reality is that makes me a great teacher. The literature on best practices is exhaustive, literature on reaching students of special populations is equally represented, but very few people mention the fact that if your students don't like you or do not feel supported, they won't work for you, and they won't learn. I had a professor in college tell someone who checked on my references that I was too passionate - you can never be too passionate, you can never love your students enough. It's a strength, not a weakness. The world should be concerned when teachers lose their passion and their love for their students. My decision to relocate and seek other avenues for my life has nothing to do with my students, but it has everything to do with what they are teaching me. 

This post began with a quote from The Little Prince, one of my favorite stories (and I recommend that every single person read it multiple times), and I couldn't feel more true about it's sentiment. The narrator, an airplane pilot, had dreams of being an artist, but grown-ups criticized in the way grown-ups do, and dashed his dreams, calling his clearly dangerous boa constrictor a hat. He was afraid to draw again, because of others' opinions, and how true is that for all of us, all of us who have already had grown-ups tell us that no one would be afraid of a hat? My students show me every day don't be afraid and don't care what people think. Wear what you want, act how you want, and inevitably, you will find someone and somewhere in the world who appreciates that. My students are fearless, and that is a true lesson I have learned from them. They come in every day almost totally unaware of what we are going to do that day, but they meet each day with a smile and an undying passion to learn and live and have fun. It's that lesson that has comforted me in the thought of leaving and starting new. 

To my best friends - thanks for teaching me more than I could ever teach you. 

Photos courtesy of Google Images

The Boa Constrictor