Making Sense of the Fall

Rushing out to my car to try and beat the parents’ cars. In the parking lot, I tripped over my own feet scraped/bruised my knee and elbow. Taking stock of my injuries, I heard my friend from car rider line call, “Are you okay?”

Just then I looked down and noticed the most disturbing part of the moment, “I ripped my pants!” As I said that I thought about the Sponge Bob episode where Sponge Bob says that again and again, and I was almost able to step outside of myself.

Then, I looked at my pants, so cute chevron black and beige, flowy and full of compliments. So sad.

Then, I heard my APs voice of concern asking me if I was okay. I told her I need to go to the dentist.

I drove away from work pain throbbing, thinking of that moment of a blogworthy metaphor.

Yes, I rush. Yes, I’m busy. Yes, I’m frazzled.

I try. I try to learn. I remove some clutter.

Still I struggle.

I try to get it all done. Too much. Too busy. Too fast.

FALL!

Venting to a friend, I looked at the text on my AppleWatch and noticed, I scraped my watch.

The one I rewarded myself with after my 11 extra days of work this summer.

I bruised my ego, scraped/bruised my body, cracked my watch, and ripped my pants.

Busy. Rushing. Frantic. Frazzled.

Slow down. Process. Wait. Think.

Make each moment count.

Avoid the falls.

Maybe I need a giant sign for life, an infographic, an anchor chart…

The fall was only one of many things that made me feel like Alexander on his horrible, no good, very bad day.

10 Steps to Avoid Falls (in life, in the classroom, in the parking lot)

1. Slow down.
2. Think through things.
3. Plan.
4. Anticipate.
5. Prioritize (OLW–I remember you!).
6. When frazzled, stop and breathe.
7. Break things down–don’t be so busy.
8. Be in the moment.
9. Be ready for whatever comes.
10. When the inevitable fall happens, take stock and get back up.

Today I fell. Tomorrow I rise.

I