June 5, 2011

Don't Waste One Minute (Prompt 6)

Prompt:

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson


If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.


Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?


My Response:

One week, huh? Well with seven days left to live I cannot claim that I would want to spend five of them working, so I may not be doing exactly what I am doing now.


But...it would be pretty darn close. At the end of every crazy "I cannot believe my students did that today" school day I still love being a teacher. Every day my life is put into perspective by the lives of my students. I remember what it was like to be 13 and worry about what your best friends really thought of you. I remember that feeling that none of us would ever "figure it all out". I remember worrying about what high school would be like. Now, the ability to look back on those experiences fondly helps me to be a better teacher.


I tell my students not to take themselves too seriously and that things in life have a funny way of working out exactly like they are supposed to. In doing so I am reminded that tomorrow isn't guaranteed for any of us. So let's get out there and enjoy THIS MOMENT. The one happening right now.


Oh man we were livin’

Didn't waste one minute

We talked and drank and danced and said goodbye

We laughed until we cried.

-Jason Aldean, Lauhed Until We Cried

#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey.

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