or is it the beginning of the beginning? I must say that I have heard so many cliche phrases over the past month since I received my "you've been bumped" letter. Most often to the tune of, "When God closes a door, He opens a window." and "Blessing in disguise." I believe all to be true...but often times, it is so easy to say those cliches than to be living the change.
I have known public education at the secondary level for the past ten years, with the exception of a two year hiatus to try my hand at retail management. I found there that I love my family and the quality time with them much more than a large paycheck, thus, my return to teaching. Over the course of eight years, I served as a vocational/business/computer teacher in four different states. I have always thought I enjoyed teaching and coaching cheerleading, which I have received praises for because, "who wants to deal with all that drama?"
It happened, on my birthday, the dreaded conversation accompanied with a letter. All my career plans changed that day...did I mention it was my birthday? What a present! I do not mean that sarcastically, I mean it whole-heartedly. I did shed tears and was quite upset, because I received my letter on a Wednesday and still had to teach Thursday and Friday of that week. Some say, 'it's not the adversity that defines you, it's how you respond to that adversity that defines you'. I believe this is true, I can choose to mope and have a negative attitude, or pull myself up by my boot straps and come up with a new 'game plan'. I managed to maintain a mostly positive attitude, despite the fact that I got bumped by a tenured teacher in the district. I have other thoughts on that whole process, but we'll save that argument for another time. I would like to think that I exited gracefully, and as I packed my belongings and tore down my classroom, I had so many mixed emotions. Many of my students asked me why I was packing up, that is when I had to say that I was leaving. It was such a sad conversation, because my 7th graders will now have had three different computer teachers in their three years at this school. I will admit it was hard getting up that last month to go in to school and still actually teach, the positive in that, is that my principal recognized that I was still actually teaching the kids something rather than shutting down and letting them play for the last six weeks of school. I guess that says something for me and my professional integrity.
When leaving on that last teacher day, I will have to say I was sad to leave my colleagues, but quite excited for what lies ahead. I like to think that I am still teaching, but not in the conventional way that when someone says, 'teach' or 'teacher', they immediately think of a school building, a classroom, students, and difficult parents, and the ugliest word of all, assessments. Yep, I said it! No, I will be in various buildings or homes, in various places, but best of all, investing time in others and building meaningful relationships. Thus, the phrase, "enriching women's lives". This new journey has already proven to be challenging for me. I am not one to just step out, meet people, strike up conversations. I would like to think that I am being stretched beyond all boundaries and putting a different perspective on my life and how I live it. I would choose to say, "Extraordinary". It is amazing how, when you change your perspective on things, put a positive spin on it and find the best in it, regardless of how difficult your day was, that in the end, there is a bigger purpose.
I will say, that in the last month I have realized that I am extremely blessed. I think this is something I already knew, but extremely blessed even in the little things especially in an age of immediate gratification. When I say little things, I mean my dryer that has been broken for over a month, that has just been fixed. Now, this might seem HUGE to some of you especially for those of you who have multiple children who like to change their clothes what seems like a million times a day. Well, once I got over the emotional flood and could see straight again, I realized that we live in a very dry environment. Duh! Hang a clothes line and multiple loads can be dried in 30 minutes. You might wonder how this is a blessing? Our electric bill went down, AND I get to enjoy the outdoors for a few minutes while hanging clothes. We live in a relatively quiet neighborhood, so I am able to hear the songs of the birds, the occasional squirrel scamper up a tree, and the laughter of children. I am still using our clothes line for the bigger stuff to see if we can keep that bill down just a bit. A test in patience and the realization that making a mountain out of a mole hill wouldn't make our clothes dry any faster!
I am blessed with a husband who makes me a woman and a half. By this I mean, he has been extremely supportive in my business adventure in whatever ways that he can. The best part is when I start talking about different types of make up and he just smiles and nods, listening all the while. Then he gives me business ideas, makes comparisons so that he can relate, and even will attend my business events with me. I love him for that!
I will leave you with this question, one we have heard often, but I think we often need to ask ourselves when facing each day. How is your glass today? Half empty or half full?
Believe in Yourself, Be Extraordinary, Dream Big...
Stacey
