Sunday Scaries

There are few professions where you truly feel like you get a fresh start every year. This is one of the greatest wonders that the field of education offers us.

The fresh potential of a new school year lends itself not only to new school supplies but a renewed sense of hope and purpose. With that comes joy and new connections but also overwhelm and sometimes dread.

It’s beautiful to work in a profession that matters so deeply. Mattering can also be heavy. We embrace this paradox because there really is no fighting the fact that good things and hard things coexist; in fact, they always have and always will.

Lately, I’ve been working late and my cat, Bumper, hasn’t appreciated the way my laptop crowds his favorite lounge spot (my lap). There have been a few moments where I’ve looked down at him, nestled between my arm and my side. There he sits, patiently waiting for me to set the work aside, so he can curl up and rest his head on my shoulder.

He doesn’t take his eyes off me. While my eyes are on my screen, his eyes are lovingly on me as if to say, “There is good here too. In fact, all we have is right now, and tomorrow will bring its own set of worries, so let’s rest and enjoy.”

At least, that’s what I like to believe he’s saying because I think it’s what I need to hear.

So, as we jump into the season of Sunday scaries, I hope we can notice our intrusive thoughts as they enter…the worries, the worst case scenarios that seems endless and overpowering…all of the big scary thoughts that seem to swallow us whole.

Let’s acknowledge these thoughts, write them down if needed, and set them to the side because tomorrow will bring its own worries and all we really have is right now.

And we deserve to savor it. There is good in the present if we look a little closer.