So this morning I woke up feeling a bit stressed. I am in charge of the phone-a-thon that begins this coming Sunday so I have a mile-long list of things to accomplish. Of course my pile of grading is steadily growing and Roy has a gymnastics clinic that starts today so...all of these things were milling around in the back of my mind as I cooked breakfast for Jace and Darian then quickly shuttled Jace out the door and off to school...
...and came home to an empty house.
I still needed to eat breakfast and fix my hair--all of that stuff that I procrastinate doing as I pull life together each morning. But I decided that I was just going to give myself 15 minutes of stillness; of quiet. And that's exactly what I did.
Fifteen minutes to focus on living abundantly; fifteen minutes to find stillness (God); fifteen minutes to simply be quiet and find purpose for my day.
And once that time passed, I felt peace at my core. The stress was gone--totally relaxed.
And that peace has stayed with me throughout this entire day.
While I was teaching my freshmen this morning, I wanted them to understand what a caricature is as they had to create their own caricatures of a chosen character in a story we've read. So I pulled up some caricatures on Google Images and, of course, they were of people that are familiar: Angelina Jole', Will Smith, Obama, etc. So we talked about what aspects of their character the caricatures exhibited--and they loved it. They laughed, they discussed, and then they created. I love it when a class period is successful--when they 'get it' and have fun with it. Nothing better.
And then this evening there was a message in my Facebook inbox. I love getting messages. It's so exciting--not even kidding--seeing that I have a message. I get giddy inside, can't click on that little envelope fast enough to see who 'messaged' me. And this evening? It was Marcia Beaumont--one of my most favorite people from Wisconsin. I taught her two kids 'back in the day': Laura and Aaron. So many wonderful things I could say about this family. When I think of Wisconsin, their faces always come to mind. So when I saw a message from Marcia, I relished every single word. She inspires me with her kind spirit and purposeful living.
Many things to be thankful for today: Philip Thomas told me that his wife Alicen got a job (yay!!), we ate dinner in the caf (who doesn't love it when they don't have to cook or wash dishes??), Roy's clinic was a success (in fact he's in a dead sleep in 'his chair' as I write this. Poor guy--exhausted), it's cold outside and I was reminded of that as I walked to the caf--quite comfortable in my Fish Creek sweatshirt that always makes me smile, and this entire evening has been rather endless--plenty of time to talk to Darian and laugh at Sparty and chat with my sisters and all in all have a day that makes me glad that I'm 45 and alive and well in Asheville, North Carolina.
I am tired of life happening to me. I'm ready to create a life--one that is joy-filled; purposeful. I'm ready to live.
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You don't really realize how much free time you had before until you are really busy! And this week I'm really busy, too - and barely finding the time to get dressed and to school - let alone find that quiet time. So I'm gaining a little peace for myself by reading about your peace! And the joy I'm getting from being around these silly, adorable kids keeps me hanging on until I can get my own piece of the peace!
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