In class, we are reading, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and today, we read the section where Mary Logan sits down with her daughter, Cassie, and tells her that Mr. Barnett thinks whites are better than blacks. She tells Cassie why he’s doing this, but says this:

Baby, we have no choice of what color we’re born or who our parents are or whether we’re rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we’re here.

#boom #micdrop

So, the choices we make in our lives all have consequences, both good and bad. One of those choices the passions we find and how we work with them. A line I heard recently said that if you aren’t willing to invest 20 – 30 years in your adult career to a passion that you have, one day you’ll wake up and you’ll have a job.

That really got me thinking about what it is that drives me. I’m about as laid back a person as you could imagine, and that’s a detriment at times. I don’t get excited about much. However, there are things I am passionate about:

  • I love my family and watching them grow: my daughters and my wife. They struggle, fail, but always get up, dust off, and get ready for the next round. They inspire me to do better every day.
  • I love teaching, love working with students, seeing them grow in spite of themselves. Working with student, finding that book that suddenly sets them a fire, that writing a piece that brings them out, it’s an awesome feeling.
  • I love coaching basketball. The teaching aspect, the building relationships, the growth and failure that take place are all things I truly love. To see players suddenly get it on the floor, to see a team click is a sight to behold.
  • I love the people I work with. These teachers take professionalism and work ethic to places never seen before. They care about these students, and I cannot imagine working in a different school, period.

I don’t believe I have a job, because I’d feel awful if I did. I stress about my job, I feel beaten down by our state and federal government, but each day is always a new adventure. Hard class or not, it’s never the same, and that’s what I love about teaching. If this passion wasn’t there, it would be a paycheck, but it’s more than that. It’s about a love of what you do. If you don’t have that, what are you waiting for? How you can take your passion, the thing that drives you to get up in the morning, and make that into something that’s a passion AND a career? How can you get past the fear, the uncertainty, and make it something that will push you forward more than you could have ever imagined?

I wish each of you a good night (it’s another late blog) and a happy day doing whatever it is that you do best!