Thoughts about Enduring

I have had to work through a lot of negative emotions in my teaching. Covid-19 has thrown us all for a loop here at school. I felt completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that is being required of me right now. There feels like too much to do and definitely not enough time. I have felt anger for the unfairness of the situation. I have felt frustrated that none of my efforts to alleviate the problem were working. And I have felt very sorry for myself. The intersting thing to note is that none of these emotions have led to solutions or positive outcomes. So here is a new set of thoughts I have been trying to adopt:

*Yes, this is hard, but "this too, shall pass".

*I have enough time to do everything that is needed.

*Look for the positive and highlight it.

*Reach out to the one.

*Knock, ask, seek. Heavenly Father is there to help. Solutions are available if you reach out to Him and listen.

*Be of good cheer!

My mind continues to want to go down the road of despair and negativity, but these thoughts have made this burden much more manageable. I think often about the people of Alma who did "cheerfully" bear the burdens placed on their backs to the point they could not feel them. I am not there quite yet--but I'm trying.

Comments

The Best Advice I Could Ever Give

A daughter called the other day feeling frustrated and frazzled. The little grandkids were at it again--destroying any possible dings of clean and order my dear daughter had worked on that Saturday morning. As my daughter expressed her frustrations, I immediately jumped into "solving" mode. Perhaps she could install child locks on a few doors, place excess toys out of prying little hands and keep important things out of harm's way. I started to offer suggestions, and then stopped myself. Instead, I listened and expressed sympathy. I told my daughter I understood her feelings--I had been a mom to toddlers once upon a time. I told her I could give her a lot of advice--which she may or may not use. Instead, I told her the best counsel I could give would be to study the situation out in her mind, turn the matter over to Heavenly Father and listen. I shared my experience of being at the end of my rope back in the day, praying, and pleading for help. My home was in a state of

Boston!- Part One

When Trevar texted me a few weeks ago that he had booked flights for us to travel to Boston, I felt my anxiety kick up a few notches. I am a homebody and absolutely hate the thought of travel. There are so many variable when traveling to a new place. Would I be safe? Would the people be rude? Would I feel depressed if the weather was rainy? Would I stress about finding things to eat? Concerns that suck my peace away, but concerns nonetheless. These concerns consumed a big chunk of my energy. It was not until we were on the train to the airport that I found myself relaxing just a teeny, tiny bit. The flight was full and I found myself sandwiched between Trevar and a beautiful blonde, co-ed from BYU. The blonde girl was vivacious and I suspected she was probably in student government and cheerleading before college. When I asked about her plans for Boston she explained that she and a group of friends were running away for the weekend. I asked about where she was staying, "Oh, we

The Race

My thoughts are over the place but I must write down a glimmer of insight that I had recently as Caleb's junior high track meet. The event was the 1600 meter race. As I watched these young boys labor through the four laps I found myself cheering everyone on. There is so much emphasis on winning in our society, but as I watched i realized that out of the hundreds of competitivors, only a small number would even make it to the podium, let alone place first. With those statistics in mind, I realized that for the boys I was watching, they were giving their all for a race they would most likely, never win. So why run, I wondered? And that is when my thinking shifted. I realized that these boys were running to win against themselves. And so, with each weary boy that passed by me, I saw them winning against fatigue and doubt. Each boy became their own champion. I stood in the stand and cheered each as each participant passed by me. I realized then, that such is the way of life. It is not

Musings from my Window

Search This Blog