Courage Doesn't Always Roar: A Teacher's Quest to Be Better Each Day

I think living means you need to purposefully ignore a lot of painful realities. As we go through our every days, doing such mundane tasks as grocery list-making and paying bills and brushing our teeth, we need to actively ignore the fact that we will one day die and all the people we love most will too. (Cheerful thought to start a Tuesday, no?) The whens and hows are a mystery and so we push these dreadful truths aside and live like we have forever, and all the ones we love have forever too. At times, it's harder to deny these truths. A little girl I know, younger than my own little girl, is battling cancer. Why does a three year old get cancer and how does any of that fit into the bigger picture of life and what it all means? Surgeries, chemo, and dreadful side effects. An entire family's blue sky existence now muddled with stormy clouds and no break in sight.  People say when this happens, be grateful for your children and their health. But this just doesn't sit r...

Last week, I was hungry and grouchy and negative and did I already say hungry? It was "Day 1" of my new eating plan and I was resenting it, big time. Your comments were so uplifting and helpful...so thank you if you commented! And the next day was a little easier, and the next easier...and now it's been 8 days on this new program. I'm over 3 pounds thinner, which is a nice start, but the best part is I feel calmer- more level. I feel prepared. I've found recipes that don't make me feel like I'm suffering. Suddenly all the foods I was longing for don't seem as important as they did last week.  Case in point- Easter Sunday. Before my Grandmother passed away, every year she would make a ricotta pie on Easter. It was my favorite. I would never turn it down, no matter what diet I was currently following. It was special- an indulgence I always allowed myself. This year, with my Grandma gone, there was nothing specific I felt I MUST HAVE, so before-hand I...

I'd like to write about something else, but I am hungry. Today was the first day of what I am not supposed to call a "diet" but, instead, a lifestyle change. The thing is, I don't want to change my lifestyle- I just want to be thinner while doing exactly what I've been doing. Apparently, that plan isn't going to work. I will have to put forth far greater effort, and eat much less of the food I love, to see pounds drop away.  I am a hard worker. I am used to putting forth great effort...but with things that make me feel successful or tasks that seem important- like helping others. Why does my own health and fitness not seem important to me? Or is it that the "comforting" foods help me accomplish all the other work I take on? Is there some part of me that feels like being thin would be tempting fate too much and would result in some tragedy? The day I finished our Slice of Life Story Challenge for March, I felt so proud of that accomplishment. A ...