20/20

This is the year that we will see clearly, right? Because it’s 20/20….so I need to see what projects will bring me closer to who I want to be and help me see clearly into the future!

That means….it’s resolution time!

2020 = the year of kindness. If I can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. When it’s appropriate, compliment people. Say please and thank you. Open doors for people and don’t get pushy. And when I’m tired and crabby, think twice before opening my mouth. Always think about how my words might affect the kids I teach, and how much I can help them just by always giving them a second chance. That said, I need to identify the really sick, selfish kids and set limits. A second chance, yes, but start to think twice about third and fourth chances. I never used to believe that some kids are “bad” until I ran into a young sociopath. He liked making other kids cry. That made him happy. There were certainly reasons for his behavior, but he was hurtful and mean. (At the end he was over 20 years old, so it was no longer a case of “oh, he’s just young”.) I need to limit my interactions with that sort of kid, and simply be strict and fair without showing any emotion.

2020 = the year of retirement planning. I have fourteen years before I get kicked out of my job (civil servant jobs are like that). However, I want to think about what I’m going to do when I’m no longer teaching at a school. There are two projects on the horizon. First is a yoga teacher training, planned for this summer. This might be something to do later in life; teaching yoga for retired age people like myself (at that point). There are a lot of “ifs” that might make that impossible, but it’s entirely likely that I’ll still be teaching sports up until retirement, so the physical aspect should still be possible. Second is working on German, because there are more opportunities for me if I can get by in two of my country’s national languages. French is already fine. German is next!

2020 = the year of family. I want to call my dad twice a week. He never remembers that I’ve called, or really which daughter is calling, but his days are a bored torpor, partially because of the cancer but also because of his hearing loss. (It’s so odd, how concerned my dad was about keeping in form for his old age. He studied French, he rowed on a machine every day. But he didn’t take care of his hearing because he was too proud to get a hearing aid, and that’s what got him in the end. He stopped being able to participate, and his mind was left to wander off.) So, telephone my dad twice a week. Call my sister at least once a week. And write my mother, through my step-sister. That’s a whole other post, for another day.

Not bad for projects, right? The last resolution, keep Foro close to my heart. He reminds me not to take things too seriously.