There are so many things to celebrate and appreciate every day, yet…
I came home last night upset and woke up in the same frame of mind. The negative, yucky feeling wasn’t letting go. It held on. I forced myself out of bed and into my usual Saturday routine. It was slow, but gradually, bit-by-bit, it shifted.
It started in the pool. From the first push off the wall, my mind went to the lack of pain in my knee and the sound of water moving. Exercise lets my mind rest and my body work.
Once I got home, I read Elisabeth’s post. This line
A new day, a chance to do it better.
completed the shift. It was time to appreciate this week.
The simple and sweet:
- A brand new carpet that students want to roll around on
- Fifth graders caring for kindergarteners
The unexpected:
- Rain
- A stoic football-playing student dancing joyously
- A student who has refused responsibility taking a leadership role
- A “learning disabled” and a “gifted” elementary student becoming high school friends and scholastic equals
and what needs to be discussed:
- This American Life podcast: “If you see racism, say racism.”
- Clint Smith, teacher poet (how have I missed this guy?!)
I celebrate this week and a chance to do things better.
Thank you, Ruth Ayers, and all who link up with Celebrate This Week.
To Read To Write To Be 
We always have a chance to do better, but this weekly celebration points to things that are going right. It’s important to reflect on these, too.
So glad you felt inspired by your new day. I had some frustrating parenting moments this week where I just wasn’t able to find it within myself to do and say what I know needs to be done and said with my son. I really hate those moments of failure. But each day I do have a chance to wake up and do it better. Have you seen Clint Smith’s “The Danger of Silence”? One of my favorite spoken word TED Talks. I haven’t seen the one you post here–excited to watch it! And thanks for the reminder about how regulating exercise is. I have been skipping workouts for the past couple of weeks and seeing the bad effects of that on my mind!
I walked today, one of my favorite places, and though it was cut short by stormy clouds, I did feel good afterwards. Exercise does help change the mind for sure. Glad your day changed and you wrote. Thanks for the talk too, good to see and hear.
That phrase caught my attention on Elizabeth’s post too. I immediately remembered an interaction I had earlier in the week that I wish I had done differently. I look forward to the coming week and a chance to do better.
So it’s not just my third grade boys who love rolling around on a carpet. Good to know. The days and weeks are so different. It’s easy to celebrate on a good day. I appreciate that you shared the effort it took to mind shift from upset to celebrate.
Sometimes it seems as though there is nothing to celebrate, but slowly the celebrations seep out of the ordinary of daily living. I am guessing the rain, although so needed, did not come on the right day? I was thinking of you and Colonial Days on Thursday. Only two weeks left, that’s something to celebrate, right?
I like how you celebrated “the simple and sweet”…”the unexpected”…”what needs to be discussed”…