I presented, for the second time, a professional development seminar for teachers on self-care. Like a lot of careers, teachers can be overwhelmed by all the demands and find themselves stressed, anxious, and reacting instead of stopping to take a breath, observing, and responding.

The admin wants this done and they want it done in the five minutes left before you were going to leave for the day, and that is long after the actual time that you should have left for the day. It’s so much easier to fill up on rage and want to tell the admin what they can do with their demand on your time. But when we can learn to step back, outside of ourselves, we have a better shot at seeing the big picture and being able to respond reasonably and in a way that honors the time we have. Just because someone tells me I need to jump and jump right now as high and as fast as I can, doesn’t mean I have to jump.

Whatever it is can wait until there is a chance to think it through and still manage the time constraint so both admin (whatever that looks like in your life/job/calling) and I are happy to complete the task.

We can give ourselves permission to step outside and breathe some fresh air, eat that lunch that should have been eaten three hours ago, voice the prayer that needs to be heard, or find the positive in the situation so we can get behind it. We can also give ourselves permission to go home for the day and come at it again in the morning when we’re fresh.