The Sunday Blues – need work/life balance be so difficult?
I’m up at 5:30 am and already thinking about how I can help a student write more fluently, when to begin prep for the upcoming standardized tests, moaning that another parent has emailed me to schedule a parent-teacher conference, and resenting that progress reports are due. I’ve taken Angela Watson’s 40 Hour Teacher Workweek course and still my job dominates my thoughts, actions, and life. Podcasts, articles, commiseration haven’t moved the needle much. The pivotal question is: Do I really want to move the needle? Yes, I do. And I know this means weakening my identification with who or what I have believed I’ve been or am, and this includes: TEACHER. The ladder out is not obscure; it is just not practiced enough, yet.
Today’s Richard Rohr Daily Meditation—blessedly found in my mailbox this morning—set my compass North again. “The reason we’re rushing into the future is because we’re not experiencing a wholeness in the present.” The Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality goes on to conclude, “As long as we think happiness is around the corner, it means that we have not grasped happiness yet. Because happiness is given in this moment and this place, and this moment and place are as perfect as they can be.”
This gig called teaching is certainly demanding of time and attention, but it is not the culprit, and I am not a victim. The difficulties and frustrations, the proddings and pokings of teaching bend my will to surrender to the moment. With the measure of success HAPPINESS, I’m all in. At this moment, the sun is new in the sky, my dog is stirring, letting me know it’s time to go for a walk, and I PRAY to be HERE today.
Work/life balance is challenging. Teaching demands seem ever present. I like the quote you shared .I enjoyed meeting you at the slicer's gathering this morning. Blessings for a day filled with moments in which to be happy today.
Margaret, I was on a similar wave length as you today with being fully present. I wrote about a quote I read this week: "What if our only purpose really is to be present?" Richard Rohr's meditation looks like a great help for your Sunday. I hope you w ere able to let go of your teacher list today and really enjoy that walk and other things you love. My favorite quote from your post is this: "This gig called teaching is certainly demanding of time and attention, but it is not the culprit, and I am not a victim." Wow. It sounds like you are really taking responsibility, and you will "move the needle." I'm afraid I never figured…
I, too, grapple with work/life balance as an educator. My identity is teacher. I am trying to parse out other elements. How do teachers make the transition to retirement?
Funny, I also woke up and sought some much needed balance through a self-compassion exercise. It is so critical to remember to be present while still focusing on moving that needle. Thank you for your slice this morning.