From your lips she drew the Hallelujah...

So. There are 9 days of school left..which to me seems absolutely insane! I never imagined my first year of teaching would go by so quickly. My birthday is this coming Sunday! Casey and I will be in Charlotte. I am SO excited! Last year, I spent my birthday babysitting someone who is 20 years my senior. I'm not quite sure why I still harbor slight guilt over that situation. I think it is because I have finally come to terms with the fact that I used someone. Now, we all use people at some time in our lives, but normally the people we use don't fall hopelessly in love with us. Unfortunately, that happened to me. I am not proud of the person I was a year ago. I am not proud of what I did to that individual's family or what I did to myself. But I recognize that we all make choices. I made a bad choice in that situation and I grew from it. I think that people really can change. As long as it is intrinsically motivated, we all have the capacity to alter those parts of ourselves that we don't necessarily enjoy. The word change has such a negative connotation. People get so defensive when we talk about change or a differentiation in the routine. I tried to change my beliefs just to satisfy anothers' refusal to accept reality. It all backfired. MISERABLY. I was unhappy for so long. It was this terrible internal struggle. I started to resent myself and everything that I become. I could not believe what I had done to these complete strangers. This, my friends, was when I realized I had hit an emotional rock bottom. But...it is always darkest before the dawn.

I can honestly say that I am happiest I have ever been.  I have reaffirmed my belief system. It's kind of like a rebirth. I am a slowly getting more comfortable in my own skin. And I think so much of that comes from my ability to start wading through all of my emotional bull shit and really know myself. It hurts to fall down. It hurts to pull yourself apart piece for piece. You see every flaw that you tried to cover up just exposed for the whole world to see.

Moral of this story? Be yourself. If you don't like yourself, change it. But DO NOT, under any circumstances, distort any part of your personality or belief system because you are trying to please someone else.

Brace for impact

The school year is coming to a tumultuous ending. The Board of Supervisors has cut the budget so much that we are starting out the upcoming year in a deficit. They are not replacing several of the teachers who are resigning or retiring. Class sizes will increase and behavior will become even more of an issue. This includes the assistant principal, who is shared between both the high school and the middle school. My biggest concern is that my students are NOT getting the right opportunities. My high school students play on marching snares. The Xylophone is bent in the middle and two of the resonators are broken. My middle school students play on a marching bass drum. The only set of Tom-toms I have were donated from someone in Richmond Concert Band. And forget auxiliary equipment. It boggles me that a group of adults can mandate all of these cuts on students. The community has spoken out against these things and they are embarrassed. Many are considering MOVING to a different county where their students and teachers have a better success rate. It's often difficult to keep your interest as a student when everything gets taken away from you. Many of the core teachers only have classroom text books, most of which are damaged so badly that they can't be used. But don't worry, the police department got the funding for all new vehicles. They have discussed meeting the minimum standards of learning. That means no guidance counselors, no electives, only in class textbooks, longer days, and much less administration. Many of my colleagues have commented that the school system will fold. There has to be something more that can be done. 

As I keep cutting weight, I feel like I am relearning how to be myself. Recently, I have been OBSESSING over an individual who really does not matter in my life. She is not me. I am not her. I have spent so much of my life worrying about other people that I often completely forget myself. I also forget to be PROUD of myself. I forget about my accomplishments and think strictly about my faults. It's not good to live your life thinking about how great everyone else is and what you want to change about yourself. Basically, you have to live your life according to the things you want and the ideals that you hold. Just because another person acts in a certain manner or does a certain thing, does not make you inferior to them. Someone else's success is NOT your failure. It has NOTHING to do with you. 

Saying goodbye to my codependency has certainly changed me. 

22

School is over in 22 days. Last week, my students gave their end of the year performances. I can't say that these performances were perfect, impressive, or that they will win any awards at Kings Dominion. But I can say that I am so proud to be working with this group of kids. I can also say that I was IMPRESSED by their performances. Some of my students put every ounce of themselves into the things that they do and it is so awesome to watch them develop into outstanding people.  It's absolutely incredible to reflect on the beginning of the school year and see how much has changed. How much I have changed. How much the students have grown. How much the ensembles have changed. It's really a beautiful thing...change, I mean.

We all set goals for ourselves. And no matter how small we feel the goal we have set is, it's still an aspiration. At the onset of this year, I gave myself very little credit. I was still riding the post college melodramatic lifestyle. As I started to shake off college and the "student attitude," real change started to happen. My student's started respecting me, my colleagues started respecting me, most importantly, though, I started respecting myself. It doesn't matter if everyone around gives you constant recognition for a "good job," or if they all "believe" in you. If you don't REALLY believe in yourself or REALLY respect yourself, you have no chance of accomplishing your objectives.

Yesterday, my trainer worked me hard. She always gives me the option to stop, but what's the point in even showing up if you are just going to give up? Every time I look in the mirror and I don't have to suck in my stomach or I don't have to adjust my shirt so that it is bigger around my mid-section, I consider that a victory. Why would I even consider giving up now? Everyone has a different ambition, but this sentiment is applicable to every aspect of life. No matter what you want to accomplish, there is no point in even trying if you are just going to give up half way through.

Keep going. No matter how hard it seems. You can endure. 

Ambition.

A year ago this weekend I was graduating from college. I have accomplished more in the past nine months as a band director than I did in the five years I spent at JMU. I am in a happy and healthy relationship, something that was nearly impossible to find in the college, I have lost 35 pounds, with 35 to go, I have doubled the size of my high school band class, I have inspired young students to stick with music--that's right...INSPIRED. I've dealt with death, emotional distress, monetary stress, lack of support, times of loneliness and despair. I also, almost, completed my first year as a band director.

I am proud of the person I becoming. For the first time in my life, I am proud to be me. I never thought there would come a day that I would feel this confident and this comfortable in my own skin. This was the most difficult year that I have experienced even though everything seemed to fall into place with ease. I dealt with many emotions that sometimes clouded my everyday judgement, but somehow, I'm still teaching.

I spend a lot of time at the gym. Getting down to my goal weight has become something much more than just an ambition. It would be a first. The first time I accomplished something with little to no help--help, not support. I have tons of support. But everything we do in life seems to require the help and assistance of someone else. Granted, I do work out with a trainer twice a week, but there's so much MORE to living healthy than anyone thinks. There's all of this eating that you have to do and there's all this eating that you really shouldn't do. Most importantly, though, YOU have to commit to YOU. If you are half assing it, than you aren't going to have any progress.

We live in a world of excuses. Oh, I have kids, I can't get to the gym. Or, I don't have time to cook a healthy meal. I decided to stop making excuses. I was obese. That word is often taboo but my BMI was so high that I was obese. When my doctor first told me I was obese, I was shocked. But did I change anything? Nah, I probably drank more beer, ate more macaroni and cheese, smoked more hookah, and ignored all the terrible habits I had fallen into during college.

Now, I still drink, which so many nutritionists disagree with, but I have limited my intake of alcohol. This time last year, I was at the bar almost every night drinking giant beers.  I stay FAR away from processed foods and I drink a TON of water. I can't lie and say it's been the easiest thing I have ever done, but when you really want something, it becomes much less of a chore. I have a number in mind that I would like to reach. It's about 35 more pounds away. But look how far I've come already!

Sometimes all it takes is changing your attitude about yourself.

You are beautiful. You are worthwhile. You are inspiring. You are intelligent. You are talented. You are loved. You are blessed.