Mindful Monday: You Don't Owe

Dan​n​y Steele ​once stated​, "Life isn’t always about reaching your potential or changing the world. Sometimes it’s about waking up, going to work, and then coming home and loving your friends and family.​"

As you start another week, ​know that you don’t owe this week perfection​. ​Showing up and doing what you can is enough.

Mindful Monday: Taking the Time

I’m currently reading ​The ​Ruthless ​Elimination of ​Hurry by John Mark ​Comer.​ He ​starts the book talking about how we’ve gotten to this point in our civilization​ with all the advancements in technology. He writes, “​In the 1960s​ futurists all over the world​- from sci-fi writers to political theorist​s- thought that by now we would be working way fewer hours. ​One famous Senate subcommittee in 1967 was told that by 1985​,​ the average American would only work 22 hours a week for 27 weeks a year. Everybody thought the main problem in the future would be too much leisure.” ​​Unfortunately​, the exact opposite has occurred. The average leisure time has plummeted​​. Work hours are through the roof. He goes on to ​mention that Harvard ​Business ​Review conducted a study and concluded that ​"busyness has been has become a sign of wealth.​"

How awful of a statement is that? We are literally working ourselves to the point of exhaustion​, often to the point of misery, and at the cost of all kinds of things​: family time​, our sanity​, and even our health.

While the phrase​, "there aren’t enough hours in the day​," is a common go​-to excuse, I would beg to say the real issue is we aren’t being true to our priorities. We allow time to get away from us and spend it on things that don’t fill our soul, feed our passions​, or ​truly matter​. 

With that thought, I beg of you to spend your time intentionally. Don't waste your days with busyness. Fill your days with what matters to you, with what's important to you, with people and activities that feed your soul. 

While what we do at school absolutely matters, it's not everything. We don't like to think about it, but we are ultimately replaceable at work. You are not replaceable at home. 

May your time, your energy, and your days align with what's important to you. 

For those interested in reading the book, here is a quick synopsis: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry is a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.

Mindful Monday: You Are Worthy

With Valentines happening this week​, it’s hard not to notice ​t​he all the commercials trying to get you to buy ​all the things. You name it, they want you to buy it for someone you love. The ​​marketing teams are essentially asking​,​ how are you showing your love to somebody else?

Instead ​I'm asking, how are you showing love to yourself? 

Sometimes we find it easier to love others before we fully love ourselves. ​I c​h​allenge you ​this week to show love to yourself. ​Show grace to yourself.​ Love the squishy parts, the messy parts, the unorganized parts​, ​and even the sad parts​. Love all of yourself. ​Why? Because you are enough. ​You are worthy of love, and you have so much to offer just the way you are. 

A current favorite song of mine is ​Worthy by Mavis Staples. There is a ​verse of the song that ​​stands out to me.

Worthy
Of that smile on your face
You know you're
Worthy
Keep on flowing in your grace
You know you're
Worthy
To take up all that space
So go ahead and clap your hands you're Worthy of it all

Regardless of what anyone else tells you, how anyone else makes you feel.  ​Regardless of the kind of day you’re having, maybe the kind of month you’re having, know that you are worthy. ​You are worthy of it all. ​Regardless if you have a Valentine this Friday​, commit to loving yourself wholly and fully because you ​are worthy of it. 

If you’re interested in listening to the whole song, it​'s sure to put you in a great mood. ​Listen to Worthy. 

Mindful Monday: What If It's A Relay?

How often in education have you heard somebody tell you to, "Pace yourself. Teaching is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You have to make it through the whole year."? Heck, if I'm being honest, I'm sure I've stated those exact works on more than one occasion. 

I come to you today wondering if we have it all wrong. What if it’s not​ a marathon? What if it is in fact a relay? 

I know we don't traditionally think of teaching as a team activity; however, this ONLY works with the support and help of a team. We need the office filtering phone calls. We need admin to have our back when things get tough. We need the intervention and resource team to help our at risk learners reach their potential. We need the veteran teachers down the hall to help us teach hard concepts. We need the new teachers to bring fresh ideas to keep our students engaged. We need one another! 

My point is this. When the days are long, when the days are hard, it's not all on you to carry. You are NOT in this alone. The school year was never meant to be done alone. Lean on each other. Ask for help.  No one expects you to do it all​!