Mind, Body and Soul Manifestations

Well, I had written last year in October about 31 things that I wanted to accomplish before I turned 31. I have accomplished 7 things on the list. I am very happy to have done those 7, but I certainly want to keep my goals going. One of the items I had on my list was to write a hand-written note to someone at least once a month. I don't think I quite got there last year, so I am challenging myself to do 30 days of hand-written notes to those people that I am incredibly thankful to have in my life. November is an awesome time to reflect on your blessings...and I certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year. I have always loved Thanksgiving and Christmas and I think this is the perfect time to let others know that you cherish their friendship and love. I hope that you will consider doing some random acts of kindness or even writing one note to someone that might need to hear that you are thankful for them this holiday season. I hung out with my mentee yesterday. She has be...

I am feeling extremely disappointed in myself right now. I have been super stressed at work and I am totally eating my feelings. I used to be able to relieve stress by painting or walking or lots of other things, but I feel like I'm distracting myself with food. I KNOW that I should be working out or walking the dog or doing pretty much anything besides planting myself on my couch and snacking at night after work. I feel like I can't control myself. Here's my conundrum - I have a paralyzing fear of becoming overweight or immobile or just not being a healthy adult. I realize that there are a ton of other things that I SHOULD be doing to prevent that from happening. I am consciously aware that devouring a quarter of a tray of brownies is only going to satisfy me for a minute before I beat myself up and feel guilty. I have been trying to "think positive" and "make small changes" and all of the other things that people tell you to do, but I'm strugglin...

I am sitting here on the verge of tears because I feel incredibly torn. I read an article this morning from the Washington Post entitled "How Hard is Teaching?" You can find it here . I probably should not have started my day with that, but alas, it is Monday and it caught my attention after my alarm went off. I absolutely love teaching. It truly is a great profession. However, I am not feeling respected lately. I do love my school, my administrators, and my students; but, it seems as though society as a whole thinks we are a bunch of whiny know-it-alls who just need to be grateful that we have jobs and that we get our summers off. I guess I just want other people to understand where we are all coming from. I am a teacher, but I have not had my summers "off" since I was a student myself. Even then (well, since I was 16), I worked multiple jobs to buy a car and pay for my insurance and my college education. I work a second job throughout the year and during the s...

I am slowly starting to realize that maybe I am a Type A personality. I always thought of myself as pretty relaxed and laid back, but through my experience as a real estate agent, teacher, waitress, and multiple other jobs, I am noticing more and more that I want to be in control of everything. This causes me stress and it makes me freak out prematurely about little things. I actually think this is one thing that makes me a successful teacher: I am in control of my curriculum, my materials (within the limits of my budget at least), and the way I run my classroom. It is a lot harder for me to give up this control in my second job. I have taught several large classes lately (30+ adults) and have not been in charge of tracing the canvases, gathering materials...in other words, I didn't have my hands in every step of the process. I realize that this stresses me out. It is no one else's fault but my own. I work with fabulous people who are on top of things and motivated and I have...

I have had this piece of writing by Maya Angelou on my mind this week, so I wanted to share it with you. I read it in AP English my senior year of high school and it has stuck with me. "Now that I am firmly settled into my fifth decade; and pressing with resolute determination toward my sixth, I find nothing so pleases me as much as outsize gaudy earrings, off-the-shoulder blouses, and a few red hibiscus blooms pinned into my hair. Do I look incongruous? Possibly to the young. Do I feel that way? Decidedly not. I have reached the lovely age where sensuality satisfies me as much as sexuality and sometimes more so. As a sensualist, I would have my ears filled with the world's music, the free laughter of old folks sitting in the last sunlight, and the whirr of busy bees in the early morning. I want to hear the sharp sound of tap dancing and the murmur of a spiritual half remembered, the whisper of a lover entreating a beloved. All sounds of life and living, death and dying, w...

I have recently begun attending Alanon meetings. For those of you who aren't familiar, this is the organization for families of alcoholics. It is a wonderful fellowship of people who support one another spiritually, emotionally, and anonymously. This organization has had a major impact on my outlook on life. I think that everyone could benefit from the program! The twelve steps of the program are something that I am still learning and figuring out, but Step Six was most recently discussed. It states "We're entirely ready to have God remove all those defects of character." This is a powerful thing. I know for a fact that I am not perfect, but to really sit down and think about my personal character defects and then give them over to God seems like a pretty daunting task. One defect that I know I possess is the lack of ability to accept the fact that I cannot control certain situations. We say the serenity prayer a lot and, as a teacher, I repeat it in my mind on a re...

So, I had a really good Saturday. I had breakfast with my Grandparents and my Aunt and Uncle, then I got the grass cut, and cleaned my car inside and out. I did my grocery shopping, my laundry, and got to start reading The Fault in Our Stars . However, I am having a little bit of a hard time now that I am sitting alone at 8:45pm with nothing to do but grading and/or house cleaning. Seeing everyone's pictures with their families on Facebook is making my heart ache a little. I had just hoped so much to have my own little family by now. While I am ridiculously happy for my friends, their husbands, and their beautiful kids, it is just so hard to have patience. I have so many thoughts running through my mind and it is hard to have a racing mind and a lot of time on your hands. I think I have gotten so used to being busy that when I sit alone quietly, I just don't know what to do with myself. I don't want to bug my friends or beg people to hang out with me. I don't want to be...