Slice of Life: March 26 -- What I Learned from Not Slicing

I'm writing tonight to admit what those of you who read this blog already know: I didn't keep my Slice of Life commitment.

It's hard to type that sentence.  No, the physical act of pressing the keys on my keyboard isn't difficult.  It's feeling like I didn't keep my word that's hard.  It's feeling like I've let others down that frustrates me.  It's feeling disappointed in myself that's hard to get past.

Yes, I feel bad about not keeping my commitment, but at the same time, I may have learned just as much (if not more) from this experience.  No, I'm not advocating quitting.  Please don't get me wrong.  What I am simply saying is that "life" happened this week and I realized that I wasn't as committed to a Slice of Life as I should have been if I really wanted to accomplish my goal.

And so, in spite of my lack of commitment and failure to meet my goal of slicing for 31 days, let me offer what I did learn through this experience.

1.  Things that are not a priority don't and won't get done.  A slice of life truly wasn't a priority for me this year.  I know that sounds bad, but it's honest.  I committed to slicing this year knowing it was going to be even more difficult than in the past.  That knowledge along with failing to make it a priority meant slicing fell to the bottom of my "to-do" list each day.  As a result, when real life happened, which it did, then I simply forgot about slicing or didn't have the energy or motivation for it.  It wasn't a priority and, as a result, didn't get done.

2.  Things that are a priority do and will get done.  I honestly entered this year's challenge half-heartedly.  That's probably part of why I didn't make slicing a priority.  Truth be told, that should have made slicing more of a priority for me if I wanted to reach my goal.  When I prioritize and make something important on my "to-do" list, it gets done.

3.  I need to plan ahead if I intend to slice next year.  I need to have a game plan going into next March if I decide to take this challenge again.  It's hard to come up with writing ideas for 31 days, especially after a couple years of slicing.  However, I know that if I think ahead, I can be better prepared with writing ideas that will help me when I'm stuck and don't know what to write about.  I always tell my students that you have to have a plan if you want to meet a goal.  This year, I failed to heed my own advice.

4.  This experience has only been a failure if I didn't learn something from it.  I refuse to say I failed.  No, I did not meet my goal, but I did learn a lot from these past few weeks of slicing.  I will take what I learned through this experience (and about myself), and will use it to do better in the future.

5.  I need to reach out to others for help more often.  I often tell students that anything I have ever done that was worth doing was hard.  A Slice of Life would fall into the "hard" category.  In looking back on all the difficult things I have ever done, I can find one thing they all had in common: I relied on others to help me get through the tough times.  Looking back, I didn't reach out to my friends and colleagues like I should have this month.  I didn't seek them out for ideas and I didn't read their blogs as much to get inspiration.  Asking for help would have been key in helping me meet my goal.

Slice of Life: March 20 -- Celebrating

Today was a day spent with family, celebrating my birthday.  My husband, Wesley, and I joined my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and three nephews for brunch.  We ate at Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield.  They have a delicious buffet full of all kinds of amazing foods.  At the end of brunch, my family surprised me with a piece of chocolate cake complete with a huge sparkler stuck in the top in the place of a candle.

More than anything, I enjoyed the time spent with my family.  We don't get to all get together as often as we would like.  My brother is very busy with his job and family, as is the case with my husband and me.  I really cherish the time we do get to spend together, but it always seems to go by too quickly.  We are entering the time of year when we celebrate lots of birthdays in our family, so I am looking forward to seeing my family more often in the next few months.

Slice of Life: March 19 -- Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday. 34 years ago I entered this world. 34 years seems like a long time ago. I suppose I don't feel that old and, to be honest, getting older has never really bothered me. Today, however, it seems odd to think that I will soon be closer to my forties than I am to my twenties.

I spent the day with my husband, son, and parents. It was a pretty low key day as tomorrow we will actually celebrate with my brother, sister-in-law, and three nephews. This day is always one that makes me pause and reflect on all I have to be thankful for. The best part of my birthday is spending it with my greatest blessings. Any day I get to spend with those I love is a good day.

Slice of Life: March 18 -- Spring Break

At 2:52 today, the bell rang, signaling not only the end of the school day, but the official start of spring break.  The blustering northerly wind and cold drizzle didn't make it feel like the beginning of our week long spring vacation.  Despite the cool temperatures, it is in fact spring break.

This break will be unlike any other for me.  For the first time, I'll be enjoying spring break with my son.  I am sure he and I will spend some days at home playing and, with warmer weather on the horizon, some nice walks outside in his stroller.  Either way, I am planning to enjoy this week off from school.  It's a nice time to relax and unwind from the stress of work as we begin to head into one of the busiest and most stressful parts of the school year.

I don't have big spring break plans and, honestly, I am perfectly fine with that.  I like the fact that I have a full week that isn't already planned for me and that I have the chance to do with it as I chose for the most part.  I can drink coffee on my couch in my pajamas.  I can take a nap in the afternoon.  I can have lunch with friends.  Those are just some of the things I am looking forward to this week.

Slice of Life: March 17 -- Thursday?

I stopped myself as I left a meeting at the end of the day. The words "Have a good weekend" almost flew out of my mouth when the bell rang, signaling the end of another school day. "It's not Friday," I thought to myself. Shortly thereafter, while on crosswalk duty, I asked my colleague how her meeting was. Then I realized her meeting was on Friday and that today was still Thursday.

For whatever reason, I've been a day off all week. Monday I thought it was Tuesday. Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday. Wednesday I thought...well, you get the drift. Maybe it was daylight savings time that threw me off. Perhaps it is the fact that it's the week before spring break. Perhaps today it had to do with the fact that I wore jeans to work today, attire that is normally reserved for Friday.

It was and has been Thursday all day. Which means that tomorrow is finally Friday. I'll be in trouble, though, if I wake up thinking it's Saturday.

Slice of Life: March 16 -- A Brief Reflection on Slicing

Can I be completely honest here?  Brutally honest?

Ok.  Then here's my confession: Slice of Life this year is really hard.

It's been hard before.  That's not new.  This year it's hard in a different way.  Year one was hard because I had never committed to writing for 31 days.  That was hard in and of itself.  However, I found that I had plenty to write about.  I sought out inspiration each day and put my best foot forward with most every post.  Year two was hard because I had to come up with an entirely new set of ideas that I hadn't used in year one.  I still felt inspired, and although my writing wasn't perhaps quite as powerful or motivational, it had meaning and merit.  This year, however, is hard on an entirely new level.

Perhaps it's a combination of several things that have made these past 16 days so difficult.  Being a new mom, the feelings of exhaustion that come with that role, having even more stress at work, and adjusting to a new routine have all made this month's slicing difficult.  I find myself slicing at the end of the day when I'm not at my best and when my head would rather hit the pillow instead of my fingers hitting the keyboard.  I have yet to find my true inspiration.  I thought that writing about my everyday life would be easier, but I have found that most days are pretty normal.  Certainly I am blessed and each day is a gift, but I'm not sure many people would want to read about most of my days.

You can imagine my surprise when a colleague stopped by my office today and told me how difficult slicing was for her, too.  We shared our feelings and were brutally honest with one another.  It felt good to acknowledge the feelings I had.  It felt good to openly admit that there were times I have wanted to quit.  It felt good to share my frustrations.  It also felt good to walk away from that conversation with a new idea to help me slice for the remainder of the month.

So if slicing has been hard for you, rest assured that there is hope.  You can do it and I can, too.  Yes, it's hard.  Yes, there will be times you won't feel like writing.  That's okay.  Just write anyway and know that inspiration will come and that there is something special about committing to writing even when you wonder if your writing is worth sharing.  Stick with it.  Keep slicing.  Seek out your friends who can help you.  And, most importantly, know that in the end, you will look back, smile, and be glad you fulfilled your commitment.

Slice of Life: March 15 -- Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. That phrase would best describe my day. I had five meetings today, virtually all of them back to back.

9:30

10:15

11:30

12:30

2:00

I managed to cross one thing off my to do list before my first meeting. I grabbed a quick bite to eat in the fifteen minutes between my 10:15 and 11:30 meeting. I stuck around after school long enough to tidy up my desk. Then, exhausted, I scooped up my things and headed out the door. I'm ready for bed and a good night's sleep in preparation for another day that begins with -- you guessed it -- another meeting.