"Zen" #oneword 2016 ...More Than Just a Need For Balance

"The Zen Teacher" By Dan Tricarico could not have arrived at a more opportune moment for me in life.

This 2015-2016 school year was going to be "My Year."  I would be teaching a new course this year, but all three of my preps would have been classes that I was relatively passionate about, and that I've had some experience teaching.  I was prepared to have an enjoyable year.  It's not that the other years haven't been enjoyable, but this was my fifth year of teaching.  I was finally approaching a point of confidence, feeling like "I got this."  That feeling would allow me to spend more time on taking care of myself, and hopefully achieving a balance in life that I could find some time outside of school for me.  I have done a terrible job of this in the past, impacting my health.  This year also would be the first year that I would not be coaching Varsity Softball in the spring time at a nearby high school.  I was ready to make this happen.

No matter how prepared we are, sometimes things just don't happen as planned.  Truthfully what we do as educators is not always about the outcome, but rather the journey that gets us there.  This year I accepted a new position as MS Personalized and Digital Learning Integrator and I am also teaching AP Environmental Science at the HS.  This first half of the year has been incredibly overwhelming.

"The Zen Teacher" has provided me with very specific areas to focus on in 2016 to help me seek out the balance that I am looking for in life.

Acceptance of Ourselves:  I am really struggling finding this, this year.  I am doing my very best trying to find balance and do a good job at both jobs, but no matter what I do I don't feel that I am there.  I need to be more patient with myself and give myself more credit.

Rituals:  I need to create more.  I feel that a lot of my time is wasted in the start up and shut down time in transitioning between jobs and I suffer from a lack of focus because there's so much going on.  I also need to be more realistic in my expectations of how much I can get done in a day.  On any given day there's enough to keep me busy from 6:45am to 10:00pm+ and without being disciplined I will work this entire time, minus a drive home from work.  I have been unintentionally eliminating some of the things that I enjoy most like Twitter chats and I need to find a way to get these back into my schedule.  They are what inspires me and energizes me to keep going.  I also need to create a regular schedule to get to the gym.  This is important for stress relief.

Subtraction:  I'm trying to do both jobs really well, but that is a challenge.  I have subtracted some extracurricular positions, and have added some, but I need to continue to align what I am doing with my professional passions.  This will be more apparent when I am down to one job.

De-clutter:  This project began last summer in anticipation of having to vacate a classroom.  There is still more to do and this has been a focus of winter break at home, but my flash drive and google drive are a giant black hole.  This is a project that likely will have to be completed this summer when more time allows for it to be done.

Stillness & Idleness:  I have been guilty of using success as my driving force in life and have avoided both of these words.  Now, it's time to claim them back.  Success and being busy all the time are overrated and it is definitely not the most healthy or rewarding both personally or professionally.

Self-Care:  I have been getting sick very frequently this year and my body is reacting in very negative ways to the stress.  I need to do a better job of providing myself time to eat, hydrate, workout, and manage stress levels.  We cannot serve others, if we don't have ourselves together.

2015 has been great to me, but I have hope that 2016 will help me discover more "Zen" in both my personal and professional life.