Perspective

Things have been really stressful.  I have seen it in the students I have met with recently and I have felt it in my own life too.  The push to make it to the November 1st college application deadline has a lot of seniors wishing that time would slow down and yet others are just trying to figure out how they can turn around their grades after a rocky start to the year academically.

In my world, these last two weeks of October are crazy busy - parent teacher conferences, college information night, application completion workshop, counselor safety lunch, suicide prevention planning, college credit plus requirements and recommendation letters (lots and lots of recommendation letters!) are all demanding my immediate attention.  Trying to keep all of the projects and demands going has felt like a juggling act that I am failing.  Near the end of last week I decided that I needed to post a list of the projects that needed my time during these final few weeks of the month so that I would keep focused on what I needed to do in any free moments I might find.  As I wrote out the list, I quickly realized that trying to capture random free moments would never accomplish the jobs.  Frustrated, I began questioning if I was making a mistake traveling out of town for the long weekend to celebrate my nephew, Brady's, 3rd birthday with my family.

Sometimes answers to life's questions come in the strangest ways - for me the answer was almost immediate.  As I went to post the list of projects, I attached the post-it note on my bulletin board to a quote about "real problems."  It is a blog post that I really liked and have printed and hanging in my office - the point of it is that we have things that we might call problems, we might think of them as problems or act as if they are problems, but the reality is, in the grand scheme of things, they are not REAL problems.  Yes, there are real problems in the world.  There are real problems in our community and even in the lives of students in our school.  (Perhaps even in your life.)  But no, my "problems" are NOT real problems.  They are being busy and feeling stretched thin, but I am lucky to have an incredible job.  I am thankful to work with people who are there to support, encourage and push me.  I am honored to be a part of my student's lives - no matter if we are dealing with real problems or life's other realities.  And, above all, I am so blessed to have a family (and a dog) that loves me unconditionally and is always there for me.

So even though there was a part of me that felt the smart decision would have been to stay home and work all weekend long, what I realized was that the smartest decision was in giving myself a break, allowing my batteries to recharge, focusing on the areas that matter most to me (my family) and then giving school my all once I returned to Ohio.  It was, without question, the best decision I have made.

I needed the reminders about personal perspective of what really mattered and how I should be spending my time.  And I hope that if you are in need of a similar reminder to focus on what really maters, the perspective and insight will be there for you too.  Remember, there may be hard and stressful days, but as long as you remain focused on that which really matters - your personal well being and the well being of your family and friends - you will be ok in the end.  And just to clarify - I am not saying you can put off all of your work and responsibilities until after you have fun and do things you enjoy - but rather that you need to maintain an appropriate balance.  And also, remember that I am never too busy to meet with you and listen to whatever is stressing you out or getting you down - "real problems" or not.  :-)