BUT NO... Hamlet had to fester and stew and create a revenge fantasy, and then act it out in this huge killing spree. Reading this play as the first thing I do with the seniors has convinced me that I need to be taking care of myself this year.
I created a little triangle of wellness (well, I didn't create it, but I remember it). In order to maintain my well-being I need to maintain my spiritual, physical and emotional health. That means having time to read and journal and pray, making time to exercise and eat well, and using my little emotional help tools to stay emotionally healthy. School is a huge drain on me, and I sometimes wonder if it is like that for everyone who teaches. I find myself going to bed early and relying on diet Pepsi to get me through to 4th block. In the fall I think I tend to adjust poorly to this change. I come home at 3:30 and I sink into the leather recliner I got this summer... and I rock back and forth while staring at Jeopardy and I wonder if it is too late to apply at Starbucks. I can create some negative spirals fairly quickly. Granted, my coping skills are fairly innocuous, but coping just enables poor emotional health, it doesn't heal.
But this is (I hope) a short transition time. I have to take care of the needs I have; spiritually, emotionally and physically, and in turn that will give me more energy to teach and teach well. A dangerous cycle is created when we don't take care of ourselves. I know how it affects my teaching when a part of my well-being is off-kilter. One bad hair day and I go back into the negative cycle. I don't want to sit in that recliner all school year. What kinds of things do you do to keep yourself healthy in times of stress?
