Ever feel like you are running
through life on a treadmill? Going nowhere fast? Maybe it’s just
me! I started this blog 3 months ago, and at the start I had this brilliant
idea that I would hit the ground running. After my first couple of weeks
writing, that run turned into a light to hefty sprint...and now... 3 1/2
months...later I feel like a sloth.
I had the idea that I would post to my blog at least every
week...that weekly post turned into a bi-weekly post...then to a monthly
post...and here I am now, at what appears to be a quarterly post. I
started this as an outlet...to de-stress from my day, and hopefully be a
resource to many of you. I told myself that I would put my cape on and
handle any and everything that came my way. I didn't register the fact
that I was starting at a new school twice the size of my previous one...or that
I had 3 times as many responsibilities, or that I would have more involvement
with my districts leadership team. (These are just a few of the factors I
didn't consider).
After the first few weeks went by, I forgot about the
superhero inside. When I say that I forgot, it's not to say that she no
longer existed...it's to say I didn't take the time I needed to re-energize
myself in order to let her shine. Let me explain. When you go
through your daily routines and life in general, you have to take a minute
every now and again and let yourself unwind. This is what you call
"self-care". I was horrible at it. There were many days
that I didn't eat lunch because I was so consumed with the day to day needs in
my building. When I missed lunch, I was so tired and hungry by the time I
left work, (many days 2 hours after I could have left) I would rush to pick up
something quick to eat, get home, eat, and then get ready to do it all over
again the next day. I was exhausted...When I finally did make it home,
the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my computer. If I did turn it
on, it was to finish up on something I didn't get to during my work day. Truth
be told, blogging was the last thing I felt I had time for in my
schedule. Even my weekends were consumed with taking care of things for
other people. The only "care" I gave to myself, was when I
wanted to do nothing at all.
As the semester progressed, nothing slowed down...the only
thing that completely stopped, was the motivation and fire I had at the
beginning of the semester for blogging. This is not what I wanted.
I had to find a way to take care of me so I could be better for others, but
more importantly, so I could let the superhero inside of me do what she was
intended to do...motivate and encourage.
Something had to change. Like
many of you, I thought about what could I resolve to do better in 2016? As I was pondering this, my principal sent out
an assignment for our staff. He asked us to view a video clip explaining
a very simple concept by Jon Gordon. The concept is from one of his many books,
"One Word that Will Change Your Life" We were challenged
to think about this, and find our One Word.
(Click on the book to watch the 3.5 minute clip)
At the start of each year, we tend to set all these new
goals...things we want to do, but in reality, most of us fail to stick to the
action plan to reach the goal. This isn't to say that setting goals isn't
important, but Gordon suggests instead of focusing on this big goal, we should
pick One Word to live by. One Word that describes something we need to
either improve or work on in our life, and if we focus on that One Word, we
will easily reach our goals. After watching this clip, and thinking about
what I would choose... (Because realistically, there are so many words and so
many things I can work on), I settled on FOCUS. I chose Focus because
when I thought about it, I realized that I have so many "irons in the
fire" that I never fully take one out and let it cool before I add another
one. When I do this, it has me pulled in so many different ways. If
I narrow my sights in on "Focusing" better, I can fully complete one
task before I add another. Doing this will allow me to be a more
effective and efficient counselor.
