Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Roses on Wednesday

SOMEONE got roses today. Okay, I got roses today from my dear friend Heather and her new baby son, Jedidiah whose yawn is only surpassed by his sneeze in cuteness.

Have to share a few things...

1) My friend Kara's Blog. It is fabulous. She is speaking truth and love and wisdom.
2) Am I really supposed to be a teacher?
3) I love teaching Thoreau, but fear that my life is so anti-Thoreau that I am never going to learn the real lessons of simplicity unless I live in a convent in Switzerland. Or Scotland.
4) Jane Fonda is fabulous.
5) I hate grading papers.
6) It is fall...
7) Kelle Hampton's blog made me cry this last weekend. I mean it made me go into the ugly cry. Why is it so hard to be kind to ourselves? What I have learned about life is that the most important relationship I have is with myself. I have to be kinder to myself and that also means letting go of the things I can't control. It's a hard life, why make it harder by beating ourselves up?
8) Laugh at something today. Laughter is the best medicine. Really. Here is something to laugh at.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What I learned from 33 Chilean miners

The last of the Chilean miners has emerged from half a mile below the surface of the earth. Amazing. I watched the streaming video and I showed the video to some of my students today. Everyone wanted to see this amazing thing again and again. My eyes filled with tears again and again. It was so powerful; no commentary, no ads or banners, just the camera trained on a hole in the ground, and the patience of waiting for something wonderful to happen.

As each of the miners emerged, they were so happy. Their families were so happy. The Chilean president tried to describe how the miners felt when they came out of the darkness and into the light. He said they felt "reborn" and most of all, they felt alive. I am incredibly claustrophobic, I can't imagine how they felt living in the hot, humid darkness for 69 days. Did they wonder if they would ever get out? Did they imagine the worst?

It got me thinking about mindsets. Those men survived because they set their mind to hope, to trust and to live. I sometimes feel like I get stuck in the emotional mine shafts of my life. I head down a dark path hoping to excavate something that needs to come out, and then there is a cave in and I am stuck in a dark, scary, terrifying place. I know how easy it is to resolve myself to never getting out. It would be easier to stay in bed, eat cookies, and shut off the phones. And no matter what my friends say or do, I have to change the mindset myself. Nobody can change it for me. But when I adopt the mindset that these problems are just momentary, that I am not defined by my sadness or by my negativity, wonderful things begin to happen.

"faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

What is your mindset today? Are you saying "yes" to yourself or is it easier to just believe that things will never get better? I have learned to trust that "yes" mindset. I may be disappointed by moments of blargh, but life is not disappointing. Life surpasses our greatest expectations, but only when we ask it to.