I got to school early in a foul mood. We’ve been fighting lately and I left the house just mad at the world (but in my wife’s “new” car, so life’s not all that bad).

As I drove in, I watched a doe and her fawn cross the road in front of me, saw the herd of cows and their little dots of calves grazing in the field, and it got me thinking.

It’s all a balancing act. Nature finds that balance, even when we silly humans try to control it. Life finds a way. My wife balances me, and I her. When we get out of balance, it’s where the tension comes from. I looked around our place and saw all that needed to be done because I’d not been able to get home from school, and just freaked out a bit. It’s a balancing act. It started raining on me, another balancing act, as the rain has kept us inside so we can’t get into the garden, mow the lawn, or just be outside.

My youngest daughter is struggling with next year all ready, and we need to find the balance with her because of leg issues. She wants to run, but doesn’t want the pain. She wants to sing, but doesn’t want the disappointment of the “what if I don’t get the part I want”. She wants to swim, because it wouldn’t hurt her legs, but doesn’t want the disappointment of not being able to sing in the musical.

Balance.

So how do we get there, finding that balance? If I knew that, I’d be traveling the world, selling my secret! 🙂 We need to prioritize what’s important. We need to put our energy and our actions into those things we value. I’m not good at that. I’m fritter away time, I procrastinate, I find “other things” to do, rather than what needs to be done. Find those important things, grab onto them, and don’t let anyone pry you away.

#keepthemainthingthemainthing

We need to allow ourselves that “damnit” moment when we do fail. I tend to feel guilty about everything, and it bogs me down. I’ve gotten better about letting things go, but it still is an issue. This emotional yuck doesn’t do me (or you) any good! We all screw up, it’s the nature of who we are. Pick yourself up, dust off, and move forward again. It reminds me of the Bob Newhart skit where he’s a counselor, with a simple message: stop it!! (Watch the whole clip, it will make you laugh!)

And finally, we just need to take of ourselves. Get some sleep, eat your veggies, get outside, whatever that is, do it for yourself. I’ve started stretching and my foot is starting to feel better, but there’s more I can do. We rode bikes in Febuary (yes, February) and I’ve not been out since.

#wth

I used to say “I don’t have the time to…..”, but then I read this blog by Johisah Harry titled “I Don’t Have Time”.

You cannot keep saying that you’re going to blow up, but are constantly sabotaging and hijacking your progress by inaction or indecision. If you plan on winning, then your rhetoric must match your grind. The twenty-four hours given to you, and to me, must be maximized every single day.

We used that line, “your rhetoric must match your grind in class”, both for good vocabulary (no one knew what rhetoric was) and for the fact our 8th graders needed that message. You can’t do what you say you are going to do without actually going out and doing it!

#truth

We all have the same amount of time, it’s where we choose to spend it. I need to get out on my bike, to get some exercise, but when I leave school at 4:30 – 5:00, I don’t allow myself the time. I’m spending it at school, not on my health, and it shows.

#balance

I’ve found I enjoy the game Minecraft, building, figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B without being killed, it’s a game that requires you to problem solve constantly. But, it also requires time. I’d love to move it into my classroom, but there’s so much I don’t know, and I’ve not invested the time needed to be an expert in this. So, we’ll try this summer, to look at my units and how we can pull some that tech into what we are reading.

#balance

It’s always about balance, and it always will be. This has gotten rambly and long winded, but the more I wrote, the more I felt other pieces of the puzzle falling into place. A good feeling, but one that leaves you with that “now what” kind of taste in your mouth.

To  my wife: I will find that balance.

To my student who drops by: keep your balance as you walk into high school. Know what you want, and keep that focus in mind.

To my readers: what do you do to find your balance?