Finding the Purple Positive

 I've seen movies where people practice what they're going to say in a speech and always thought, "Yeah, that's a good idea for teaching," then never did it. But, this week, I saw myself do it. And, it's not like I planned it; I just instinctively knew that was the right way to practice. I was reviewing for the final and wanted it to flow nicely (and quickly to make sure we fit all the questions in), and I found myself looking at the material and mouthing/whispering what I would say in front of the class. I even added what type of responses I might hear from the students and what my responses might be to those responses. Whoa. I'm an actual lecturing teacher, folks. How about that? Neat. p.s. The reviews went swimmingly and the final next week is the last day of my first semester of teaching college! Woot! 

 Okay, dammit. I found a part of my new wonderful life that isn't absolutely wonderful. I'm prepping to do lecture videos and I'm basically transcribing what another teacher has done so I can do it in my own voice with a script (and add my own notes and change a few things here and there), and WOW, is it boring! This is why my medical transcription business went nowhere. Blech! I hate transcription! I can do it, yeah, but wow, do I not want to!  I'm enjoying the math part of it. I'm actually understanding bits of statistics a little deeper because I'm trying to make sure I can answer questions about the lessons I'm creating for next semester. Yes, did I mention I'm teaching Stats next semester? Yup. One of my toughest subjects, but it's a great opportunity, and I want to hit it out of the park, so I'm determined  to do this well. That means a ton of preparation, so that's what I'm doing. A teacher who's taught this several times befor...

Well, we're almost there. The end of the semester is within reach. Just a couple more weeks, then the final, then done until August. It feels very weird to be nearing the end of my first semester of teaching college. How did I get to this amazing place? Okay, honestly, I've worked extremely hard for a lot of years, and several kind people along the way supported me in my journey and helped me along when they could. I never could have reached this moment without the trust and belief in me that so many have shown. I'm in awe of the opportunities I've been given and the chance to live out this dream. Don't pinch me. I don't want to wake up!

 I just had an incredible meditation session in which I reassured earlier versions of myself that we could handle what we needed to do for the day. I don't have anything big planned or any big deadlines; it's just this thing that I'm starting, recommended by my counselor. She's been helping me look inside at the past versions of myself that are still influencing my stress levels and my fears. She calls it internal work. I love it. It's all about visualization and pinpointing the origin of those triggers of negative emotion. We've done some amazing work, and I'm going to try to integrate it into my daily routine. Today was my first day, and it went great! So, here's to finding the purple positive!