It is way pass my deadline for writing this week’s blog and I find myself short of breath. Teachers and administrators have been rushing from place to place. We are all so busy getting the building ready to turn back into a school……. While still running a camp! As I look out my office door I see the new prep materials, laminating and classroom discards lining the hallway. Teachers never throw anything away, they just put it out to pasture! The speed at which thoughts are passing through my mind makes it hard for my fingers to keep up. I can feel tightness in my chest, it is stress climbing in. I really don’t have time for this…. (I mean the stress)
Getting a school ready to open is not unlike getting your family ready to go back to school. Deadlines and stress are familiar to us all.
Stress is not something I have to accept into my body. I try to picture stress as an animated creature constantly looking to climb inside me and wreck a little havoc. Sometimes he sneaks in and I am unaware of his antics, until I feel my personality change and I become short or aggressive when interacting with people. I can think of a hundred reasons why stress is a normal reaction to deadlines; it does not have to consume me. Stress may be a common reaction it is not a healthy one.
It is important to have several tools in your survival kit to handle stress. One of the best ways for me to chase away stress is to take a moment to breathe. Some long slow breathing is definitely in order when the activity and anxiety level may exceed the norm. I also try to schedule extra time to get things done. For teachers/administrators, that one just isn’t possible the week before school starts. So, I prepare my family for a longer than usual absence and the laundry, which is rivaling Mt. Everest, will get done, eventually…. I remind myself that it will all come together if I just take one step at a time. I try to remember to stay in the moment and not let the never ending list of things to do take over my present.
When I stay open and present nice things begin to happen; I can feel the stress melt away. Today on the way to work, I was mindlessly driving the ever familiar route; when there, on the side of the exit close to the everglades was a doe and her two fawns foraging in the grass and flowers. I have lived in South Florida for over 20 years and have never seen deer along the highway in Sunrise! I tried to slow down, to extend that moment just a bit longer. Unfortunately, the other motorist was either unaware or didn’t care about the beautiful gift Mother Nature presented and I was forced to move on for safety’s sake. That image stayed with me throughout the day and I only needed to recall that brief moment to stay centered as the demands and deadlines mounted.
That was a gentle reminder that work, tasks, chores, need to be kept in perspective. No matter how busy we are we must stay present. Now, it’s all you have. Take long deep breathes!
Peace & Light,
Grace
Written by Grace Geller
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