Conferences for teachers compare to tax time for accountants. We halt our exercise programs, compromise our diets, put everything aside to make room for a lot of extra hours at work. In the last week I've lost a bag full of cameras and voice recorders, a flip recorder, and today, the piece de resistance, my purse!
My breath left my chest when I realized its absence this evening. We searched the house, the cars, nothing. So at 8:30 I drove back through town, stopping at the few places I'd run errands over the last few days. Called the police to report it missing, and eventually ended up back at school. At the door our night custodian greeted me sternly: "NOW what are you doing back here!?" I stayed at school until midnight one day last week, and she gave me the dickens for staying so late.
Yet when I told her my tale, which she took in soundbites between comments to the officer on the other end of my call, she launched into a mission. And within 30 seconds, somehow magically located my purse. What a relief.
And it shows more than the work of an employee ready to go home. She willingly took my hug as thanks (me, still on the phone with mr. police officer, who treated me so kindly, how can I ever thank him for his compassion? He kept reassuring me, empathizing that he'd experienced this very thing and knew just how awful it felt.)
I always try to appreciate others, and show it through greetings, questions, and listening. Of course I think about smiling, using "and" instead of "but", and look on the bright side of all problems. Tonight my friends and community surrounded me with their love, compassion, and support. These things money cannot buy, and poverty cannot remove. I feel more and more convinced of my power to create a happy life for myself, entirely outside of my paycheck. That feels powerful.
Love you!
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