Love What You Do

There’s a reason the average American adult goes though something like seven career changes throughout their lives.  That might not be the exact number, but it’s the idea that it’s a high number, not the actual number that matters.

Sure some 18 year old high schoolers are pretty sure of what they want to be when they grow up, and sometimes they’re right on the money.  But more often that not, it seems that it takes a little trial and error to find one’s true passion.

When I was in high school, if asked what I would do for a career, I often said teach.  What I wanted to teach changed a few times, but I saw the amazing impact a great teacher could have on the lives of their students.

So off I went to college to fulfill my dream and begin my quest of helping to shape the next generation.

I became a teacher.

And I loved it…..most of it.

I loved working with teenage kids every day. I loved interacting with them on a personal level. I loved seeing my students succeed at something that had been a struggle for much of their lives.

I felt like I was making a difference.

A good question to ask now however would be, if I loved teaching and was making a difference, why am I no longer a teacher?

Just as there is with every career, there was a lot that frustrated me as a teacher. Much of it was non-instruction related, but often weighed heavily on me. It was “the other stuff” that introduced doubt.

So, like I’m sure many others have, I researched other careers. I thought about what I had been interested in in the past. I looked at what each job would entail, and even what schooling would be required to make the change.

This is where I think a lot of people stop. Think about making a change, look into options and opportunities for change, but don’t act upon it.

What I think was probably different from other’s experiences with their own career doubt, was that I acted on it. I was fortunate to have a spouse that encouraged me to take the plunge if I felt it was really what I wanted to do.

Several things had to happen:

• I had to be not okay staying with a career in which I wasn’t 100% happy.
• I had to have enough interest in making a change to research alternatives.
• I had to have a support system that allowed and encountered me to follow my heart.
• I had to have faith that I would be making the right decision, and that each piece would fall into place in a way that made sense and was meant to be.

It worked for me. It was difficult, and both emotionally and financially taxing, but I made a major career change after thinking I was done with school. I went from teaching 8-12 grade math and science to working in the radiation oncology department of a large cancer center.

It may not work for everybody, but I can’t imagine having not tried.

We can’t be afraid of the unknown. Big change is possible.

And sometimes it’s downright necessary.

Make sure you love what you do.

Reminded Memories

  
Facebook has a feature that I haven’t used extensively, but may be the best feature they’ve introduced yet.  Quite frequently I receive a memory reminder; often a photo I shared X years ago. 

Since most of my shared pictures have been of family, either of our children or my wife and I pre-children, most of my memories are similar photos. 

Of course I have all of those same photos saved on my laptop, or even still on my phone, but I often neglect to look back through them. Isn’t that why we take photos in the first place? 

Facebook memories, for me, serve as a sort of memory timer set to 1, 2, 5, etc. years down the road. 

And what a fun surprise it is to be reminded that on this day last year a picture of my pregnant wife with our daughter, both holding their bellies, was taken and shared with the Facebook interwebs.   

I can’t help but be brought back to those thoughts and feelings.  I feel the anticipation all over again, the nervousness of the unknown. When will he/she come? Will it be a he or she?  What kind of big sister will Ellery be? 

The best part is then thinking through the answers to those questions. He abruptly announced his imminent arrival at 5:30am on the 26th of January. Of course he turned out to be a HE, to be named Henry after my late grandfather (there’s a whole other set of memories to go through). 

And the best answer may be the type of big sister Ellery has turned out to be. She loves him so much, and I’m so excited to see how they grow together.  What will she teach him? How will she protect him? What will they learn to do together? What trouble will they get into together? 

All this from an unexpected reminder of a photo that was shared a year ago and then forgotten. 

One photo, but so many memories. 

Facebook got this one right. 

Refresh

Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives, so overwhelmed with our everyday responsibilities, that we forget to take time for ourselves. 

It’s not hard to do, in fact it’s surprisingly easy. Kids, jobs, school, etc.; there is constantly something to keep us busy. 

It’s not that we’re neglectful. It’s not that we stop caring about ourselves, or our spouses. The fact is that our kids become our lives. We trade in the selfishness of our single days for the selflessness of parenthood. Our children become our first priority. 

But we’re important too. 

How many marriages are lost because time was simply not made for each other? 

Losing sight of each other is often so easy to do, but then again so is falling in love all over again. 

We need to take a break every so often; take a break from everything but each other. 

I fell in love all over again this weekend, but truthfully I never stopped loving her.

  After 13+ years together and 8 years of marriage, my love for this woman has never been stronger; and it grows every day. 

Change the Forest

As a new father (almost four years ago) I fell in love with reading to our little girl. Before she could even sit up on her own, her mother and I would read to her every night. Both of us found books that became our favorites, and we both had our own routine of specific books we would read and certain songs we would sing. 
One of my favorite books, and it remains to this day, is “Blessings Everywhere.”  It’s simple, God has given us so many blessings that everywhere we look a blessing can be found. “In the sky and on the ground, little blessings can be found.”  

  
Somehow as we get older, we lose the ability to see many of those blessings. 

Even if we remain strong in our faith and convictions, we are often blinded by so much of the negativity that surrounds us. We are forced to look through, past, or around the forest of negativity in order to find our blessings that it becomes unbearable, and our focus is forced onto the sadness and hurt of this world. 

But the good news is, this affliction is fixable; we don’t have to go through our lives blinded by despair. 

Negativity exists and will always exist, and we should acknowledge and address it. 

If, however, we notice, enjoy, and appreciate every blessing we can, then the blessing will start dominating our lives. 

So enjoy every sunset, enjoy every smile on the faces of your children, every laugh, every snuggle, every book and song at night. Make the time to enjoy these things. Even if only for a second; enjoy it. 

Acknowledge the bad, but savor the good. Pretty soon the good will become great. Pretty soon the negativity of life will become blocked and hidden by a new forest; the blessings that have always been there. 

  

#BlessingsEverywhere

Change the Forest

As a new father (almost four years ago) I fell in love with reading to our little girl. Before she could even sit up on her own, her mother and I would read to her every night. Both of us found books that became our favorites, and we both had our own routine of specific books we would read and certain songs we would sing. 
One of my favorite books, and it remains to this day, is “Blessings Everywhere.”  It’s simple, God has given us so many blessings that everywhere we look a blessing can be found. “In the sky and on the ground, little blessings can be found.”  

  
Somehow as we get older, we lose the ability to see many of those blessings. 

Even if we remain strong in our faith and convictions, we are often blinded by so much of the negativity that surrounds us. We are forced to look through, past, or around the forest of negativity in order to find our blessings that it becomes unbearable, and our focus is forced onto the sadness and hurt of this world. 

But the good news is, this affliction is fixable; we don’t have to go through our lives blinded by despair. 

Negativity exists and will always exist, and we should acknowledge and address it. 

If, however, we notice, enjoy, and appreciate every blessing we can, then the blessing will start dominating our lives. 

So enjoy every sunset, enjoy every smile on the faces of your children, every laugh, every snuggle, every book and song at night. Make the time to enjoy these things. Even if only for a second; enjoy it. 

Acknowledge the bad, but savor the good. Pretty soon the good will become great. Pretty soon the negativity of life will become blocked and hidden by a new forest; the blessings that have always been there. 

#BlessingsEverywhere

Happy in The 99%

There’s such a push these days to demonize those who have been successful. 

Those labeled the 1% have gained an immense amount of wealth; many earn in a single day what thousands of Americans will earn in a whole year. But are they greedy? Do they have more than they NEED or DESERVE? 

My take, for what it’s worth:

Bernie Sanders said in the Democratic debate that we are the worst in the world in income inequality, truth is we’re 42nd. The solution of those on the left to income inequality is to make the rich less rich, instead of the poor less poor; it’s to create more taxes, instead of more tax payers; it’s to expand dependency programs rather than decrease the number of dependents. 

We enjoy so many of the benefits brought to us by families classified as 1 percenters (think Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Devos, VandAndels, Meijers, Waltons, etc.). Now they’re to be demonized for being so successful?  

Our constitution was designed to guarantee equality of opportunity, not equality of condition. Those in the 1% took advantage of their opportunities and created opportunities that weren’t there. 

The rest of us are not in the bottom 99% because the greed of others is holding us back. We’re there because we borrow more than we can afford, we spend more than we earn, we refuse to save for our own futures, instead expecting social security and other programs to fill in the gaps and keep us afloat. We spend more time looking for people and factors to blame, rather than for solutions to our problems and shortcoming, and opportunities to lift us to the next level. And we’re constantly reminded by our fearless leaders that it’s not our fault; we can’t be expected to succeed when there are so many at the top not paying their “fair share.” They owe us! They don’t deserve what they have, and if they won’t give it to us, we should take it from them! That’s an extreme interpretation of their position, but it’s not far from the truth.

I’m happy to be in the 99%. I’m happy I’ve had to earn what I have thus far. I’m grateful to have what I have and plan to one day EARN my way into the 1%. Dave Ramsey often says that we ought to “live like no one else, so that later we can live like no one else,” but the last line of that statement adds, “and give like no one else.”

Earn it! Join the 1%! Live and GIVE like no one else! 

Whatever it Takes

What human beings have in common is we all have our challenges and face adversity in our lives.  What sets some apart is how we deal with the adversity and attack those challenges.

I think the argument could be made that at times I’ve fallen on both sides of the proverbial fence.  There have been times that I’ve come up to a challenge and for whatever reason it seemed too insurmountable.  I have decided not to take on a challenge, or to succumb to adversity and otherwise give in.

However, there have certainly been circumstances, especially as I have grown and matured, where I have taken on a challenge with a “whatever it takes” mentality.

Fortunately for me, I have the most amazing support system surrounding and uplifting me, and encouraging me to attack every challenge; whatever it takes.

As the summer semester winds down, and before the fall semester begins, (for me the last semester of my masters program), I’ve taken the opportunity to look back and reflect on the last year.

When I accepted the position in this program, amidst all the uncertainty of how it would go and how Amber and I would work through it, it was very clear that it would be a big challenge for both of us.  In many ways the challenge has been greater for Amber and I can’t thank her enough for all she’s done and sacrificed for us.

The best part is that as we look forward to the fall, realizing that it will be my last semester and that the potential job market will be waiting come January, the rewards of all the sacrifices and overcome challenges are beginning to take focus.  That “some day when you graduate” is nearly upon us.

It’s not time to count our chickens before they hatch, but it is a great time to thank those who have helped us along the way and ask that they continue to help, and push us through the last leg of this journey.

 

#Blessed

Happy new year!

Have we made our resolutions yet? Have we broken our resolutions yet?

I saw a Twitter post that asked about making goals for 2013; goals, not resolutions. That’s an interesting way to think about greeting the new year.

Resolutions are simple to make, and easy to break or forget altogether. The also tend to be difficult to measure. “Read more.” “Judge others less.” “Get more sleep.” “Study more.”

@Dave Ramsey (via Twitter): “Goals that work are: 1)Specific 2)Measurable 3)Have a Time Limit 4) Yours (not imposed) 5) IN WRITING”

Don’t make A resolution, set GOALS for yourself. Then, most importantly, check up on yourself and keep yourself accountable. (If you follow Dave’s rule #5 above and keep your list visible, it’s easy to regularly measure your success).

Now to follow my own advice, I’m going to make a new year’s GOAL. To do my best to think and act more positively. While surrounded with negative news about the fiscal cliff, national disasters, and so many other daily news headlines, it’s very difficult to find the positive stories and ideas.

That sounds more like a resolution, so I’ll be more specific.

It is my goal to post a positive tweet about the many blessings I am fortunate to have in my life every day. I have started already and have used the hashtag #Blessed to keep track of those posts. Taking the time to think about what to tweet has already shown me that I have more blessings than I could possibly share. This also affords me an opportunity to share with others how much they mean to me and how grateful I am to have them in my life.

It is my hope that following this specific goal will help make me a more positive person, and spread that positivity into all aspects of my life. Also, I hope to be encouraged to avoid, ignore, or quickly forget about the negativity we’re surrounded by, especially that which I have no control over.

The last benefit I hope my positive tweets have is to encourage others to do the same. Find the positive blessings you have in your own life and feel free to share them with those that matter in your life. Let’s share so many blessings that the hashtag #Blessed becomes a popular “trend” on Twitter.

Of course you could also text your loved ones, email, Facebook, call, or send a letter if your still remember how. Just make sure that those who are blessings in your life know it. Thank them and cherish them.

Happy new year

#Blessed

To America from a Teacher

The following was posted by Lisa Myers on her blog.  The direct link is given below.

“Dear America,

It feels strange to hear your voice praising teachers for their selflessness, dedication, and love for their students. We’re listening to what you’re saying, but we must admit that we are listening with tilted head and quizzical eye. Why? Because we’ve become accustomed to hearing a very different voice from you.

For the past few years, you’ve been certain that most of society’s problems stem from our schools, more specifically the teachers in those schools. We are lazy and useless, we are only in it for the money, we only teach for the vacation time, we don’t possess the intelligence to teach anyone much of anything, our demands for a respectable wage are selfish, we don’t teach students respect, we are leeches sucking the blood from State coffers, we don’t even work a full day like everyone else, and the most hurtful one of all – we don’t care about our students. Concerned citizens have even documented these ills in grossly successful movies that take the worst of us and use it to convince the public that teachers are deserving of nothing but disdain.

Yet, in one weekend, with one horrific tragedy, your voice has changed. The general indictment that has been assigned to us has seemingly been lifted. All of the sudden, America is looking to us with respect, admiration, trust, and something that looks a bit like… awe. It’s puzzling, really. We are the same people we were last Friday morning, doing the same job we’ve diligently done since choosing our career.

Of course, we do realize what has happened. Something horrific occurred last Friday, and as a result, America saw the uncensored soul that resides in the vast majority of teachers. There were no special interest groups telling you what teachers are really like, no businessmen or women proffering data-driven solutions that will fix every instructional problem, no politicians pontificating about the grading of teachers based on the value they add to students. No, what you saw was the real thing, teachers who love America’s children so much that they dedicate their all to their welfare.

No, for most of us, our all does not include a sacrificial death, but it does include a sacrificial life. It means working a full day at school then continuing that work at home well into the evening as we grade papers and prepare materials that will lead to authentic learning in the classroom. That’s our surface work. At a deeper level, however, we also do the following:

• notice our students’ hurts as well as joys so we can be sure to validate them with our comments and actions
• communicate with our students in a manner that conveys regard for them, even if regard isn’t shared for us
• advocate for services that will improve the likelihood of students’ success
• volunteer for extra-curricular activities so children will know we care about their whole life, not just what they do in the classroom
• coordinate numerous fund-raisers in order to attain the resources needed to teach students
• spend our own money where fundraisers fall short

In truth, our souls are just about as self-sacrificial as souls come, and it is this part of us that you witnessed last Friday in Rachel Davino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, and Victoria Soto. Yes, they paid the ultimate price, but we want you to understand that what they did on Friday was a natural outpouring of what they were already practicing: a dedication of their lives to your children. It is generally true that if one is going to die for another, he or she is first willing to live for that person. These women did just that.

It is inevitable that days will grow between last Friday and the present, and thoughts will turn to memory. However, we pray that you will not forget this glimpse into the souls of teachers this tragedy afforded us. Please do not return to lumping us together into a rejection bin after seeing a few examples of teachers who do not belong in our ranks. Realize that you will find no greater advocate for America’s students than in us. Appreciate our efforts, and in so doing, create an atmosphere of respect for what we do. In short, simply treat us with the dignity that you’re displaying today. We might find that many answers lie in that action alone.”

To America from a Teacher

What I Learned in First Grade

Many of us know teachers personally, and have heard the line, “if only you could spend a day in my classroom.”  As a high school teacher for two years I myself have said that line many times.  My wife and I finally agreed that neither of us would last if I took over her first grade room and she moved up to high school, but we’ve had opportunities to see each other in action.

I had another of those opportunities again yesterday.  Amber called and asked if I would be willing to come in and help her get a few things finished before Christmas break.  Being the loving husband that I am I agreed.  I probably did less actual work than she was hoping, but I received an awesome reminder of the spirit within many of our young people today.

First graders are at the perfect age where they (hopefully) know nothing about the prejudice, and negativity in our world.  Watching every student in the class help each other, look out for each other, and genuinely care for each other was awe inspiring. There are no cliques yet to have been formed.  There was no group of friends that would rival Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams in “Mean Girls,” deciding who to like, who to eat lunch with, and who to play with on the playground.  There was no, “you’re not cool enough,” “you’re not smart enough,” “you’re not athletic enough,” “you don’t dress the same way as me,” or “you’re too different than me.”  There was only a sense of family.  A sense that they are more than just classmates.

The last part of the day before the class hoped on their busses and headed for home was a rehearsal for the Christmas play.  Being first grade it’s a relatively simple production in which groups of students read lines together describing the different lights associated with the many December holidays.  I stood quietly off to one side, watching as six teachers attempted to wrangle 130 six and seven-year-olds into postion alphabetically, and coaxed each group into say their lines in unison.  It is my opinion that every one of those teachers deserves some sort of medal of honor.  It truly takes a special personality to calmly work with, and educate young children on a daily basis.

I can say, as I have before, that I’m proud to have a first grade teacher for a wife.  Further, I’m grateful that she’s willing to put herself through what I can only describe as some sort of torture avoidance training, while I work through graduate school and move into a different career path.  She does this on top of taking care of our one-year-old daughter, essentially as a single mom.  My afternoon in her classroom taught me many things and reminded me of how talented my wife is, and how lucky I and her students are to have her.