*Dusting my blog off*
Yup, it’s been a while, over a month in fact. It’s not that I’ve been without ideas, far from it. It’s just been a hard month, period. My coaching has taken me away from seeing my oldest daughter play. My class, while small, is one of the more difficult classes I’ve come across. I’ve been tired just not feeling good about my own teaching. All of this has just taken a toll on my own attitude and overall health for that matter. I’ve not run in months, my weight is up, and I’m not sleeping well. The stuff floating around in my head hasn’t been blog worthy, not at all. No one wants to read grumpy, whiny stuff, and I’ve not written.
However, it’s a new year. And for some people, big deal, it’s new year with the same crap. Why the change? I’ll blame my youngest daughter and her basketball team. We had practice last Thursday and Friday, practices that I was just dreading. I’d had girls email saying they weren’t going to be there and I was ready to cancel. We got there, and by the time practice started, we had 22 of 28 girls there. They worked as hard as they have all season long, laughing, smiling, being 8th graders, yet being basketball players too. How in the world could I be in this funk with these great kids running and working hard.
Why indeed? The last couple of days I’ve been out at school working to put my room back together again. It was cleaned over break and things were left all over the place. I’ve joined into a challenge group via Twitter, pushing to run 500 miles this year (#500in2014), and have started to track my calories again. It’s about attitude, something I preach to my students and players, so I guess I need to practice what I preach! 🙂
Not going to do any real “resolutions” other than I want less clutter in my life. I’ve donated a bunch of clothes and books, working to get some of my home clutter under control (hurray says my wife). My classroom clutter, I’ll be doing the same thing, pitching, donating, and just working to keep my paperwork under control.
Anyway, I hope to keep this more current, to work on my own attitude, to keep the clutter (both physical and mental) under control, and to keep connecting with you, those who read this little part of the Internet. If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for bearing with me, and I promise, we’ll keep in closer touch! 🙂
January 7, 2014 at 3:31 pm
I myself am in a winter rut! Hard to keep up with the blog when teaching and coaching. Throw in the holidays on top and I was completely overwhelmed! So I hear you ! Looking forward to reading your new posts in the new year!
January 8, 2014 at 10:13 pm
Oh exactly! Teaching, coaching, and holidays are all part of it, plus a case of the winter blues I’m afraid. However, a new year, a little different attitude, and the sky is the limit! 🙂
January 9, 2014 at 10:32 am
Winter blues for sure! I’m
Going to buy a happy light this weekend !
January 10, 2014 at 8:48 pm
Thanks for sharing yourself with us, Darin. Kids really do a nice job of showing us the way sometimes. They surprise us. I’m glad the young ladies surprised you. I look forward to reading your next post.
January 11, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Thanks, Jennifer for your comment! I’ve had 28 girls this season, a huge challenge in itself, but time and time again, the overall attitude of this team has left me smiling. Yes, because of the numbers, we’ve lost games we shouldn’t have, but they bounce back and are ready for the next day’s practice.
Thank you for reading!
Darin
January 11, 2014 at 6:09 am
Thank you for this blog post and your honesty. I love that watching your team led you to a reflection about attitude and making small changes to enhance life and spirit. The inspiration we get from our students, players, children is amazing!
January 11, 2014 at 7:40 pm
And that’s just it. Some days, I’m in awe of the inspiration that my students and players can give, just by being themselves. The best part of that, they don’t even realize the good they are doing! 🙂