On Days of Dreams

I had been tossing the idea around in my head to write daily for the month of October.  There were many reasons: it's my birthday month, I love October, and there's a series going on at a blog I visit from time to time.  The goal is to write daily.  Since this is the encouragement I've been giving my writing students, I thought maybe I would commit to doing the same. But me and commitment kind of broke up this year.  Back when I resigned, I made a decision in my head to step back from all my commitments and choose only a couple to focus on.  In the extra activities added to my plate, I was losing a firm grasp on the ones that mattered most: my family.  At the end of the day I was so depleted, I was rushing through bedtime rituals to the sanctuary that is my bedroom.

So I did the thing that had to be done.  Broke up with weekly book club at my house, PTA extra commitments, and all things that were weighing me down.  Even with less, add another kids to the mix and there is definitely more.  So, there comes the dilemma with a daily writing commitment.  I want to say I will do it, but I want the freedom to not do it if life gets in the way.  Me and my goals are kind of wacky like that. I have a difficult time not doing something I say I'm going to do.  End of story.

I'll never forget the first principal who I worked for as a teacher.  We had a little discussion one day before I went off to a job interview at the local academy.  I had only been teaching, maybe two years but my eye was on the counselor job already.  If I didn't rush my plan into action, I felt like I was letting myself down.  She told me something along the lines that, "there are a lot of different paths to get to your goal."  It was just the combination of words that gave myself permission to press pause and enjoy my teaching life just as it was. I've never regretted that decision.  I do believe that was God's plan for my life, to bump me around at all three levels and gain experience while always allowing me the luxury to spend more time at home with the ones who mattered most to me.

Dreams.  They change.  They are different for everybody.  They belong to you.


 "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."

James Dean