Only now am I getting around to posting about December.
And it was an interesting month. As a teacher, I’ve started to realise how important the holidays are for physical well-being.
What I mean is that in my job, I choose to give of myself. It’s pretty tiring. I trained a PGCE student, I sang in the choir and kept the Sixth Form on track as well as I could, wherever I felt I could.
So – not surprisingly – I got ill on the last day of term.
Like properly ill for almost 10 days. Yes I was hit by the ‘flu!
Apparently it’s not uncommon for teachers to get ill when the holidays start.
So much for having weeks of holiday eh?
That was December.*
————–
01 Dec: What happened before does not have to dictate what will happen next.
02 Dec: Truth is challenging to tell. Telling the truth challenges.
03 Dec: What’s the difference between a half-truth and a half-lie?
04 Dec: Am I driving my life or being driven in my life? One sounds worse.
05 Dec: I actually don’t know…until I make it up.
06 Dec: People can handle truth.
07 Dec: Teach history by giving *all* the evidence and letting people make up their own mind.
08 Dec: Offending seems to be easier than inspiring. But inspiring is more natural.
09 Dec: Playing full out gets harder as I get older. Is that because I have become sensible?
10 Dec: Happiness is not found in having more stuff.
11 Dec: To achieve a goal keep removing what’s between here and there. The rest is easy.
12 Dec: Complete the preparation and you’re ready for anything.
13 Dec: Moving forward after a setback doesn’t have to be any more difficult than it was before.
14 Dec: Nobody actually listens to what’s out there. Knowing that doesn’t help. Practising it does.
15 Dec: Truth makes no difference in your head. Expressing it alters something.
16 Dec: Words are not experiences. They are just noises; signs of reality.
17 Dec: Changing something is different from creativity.
18 Dec: No thing is still forever. Nothing is forever still.
19 Dec: Communication is still possible without knowing another’s language. But it requires opening oneself to one’s humanity.
20 Dec: It all starts with truth.
21 Dec: When things are cold we understand the value of warmth.
22 Dec: It’s difficult to appreciate all the ripples of one’s actions.
23 Dec: Embrace your humanity. How else to deal with consistently fucking up? Oh yeah – a sense of humour.
24 Dec: Aspire to something.
25 Dec: Family does not *always* know best.
26 Dec: The previous generation doesn’t have to dictate what happens next.
27 Dec: Never discount the emotional and spiritual benefits of exercise.
28 Dec: Never discount the emotional and spiritual problems of physical illness.
29 Dec: Continually doing something will either rob it of its significance or bring deeper insight. Your choice.
30 Dec: Sometimes the appropriate response is to walk away and not bang your head against that particular brick wall any longer.
31 Dec: Hit the reset button. You can do it at any time not just New Year’s Eve.
————–
*If you find what I’ve written interesting, please acknowledge the source. Fanks!
James D'Souza 