Blessings in Lessons

I don't even know how to express in words what I am thinking right now, other than, I am so glad I made the decision to leave a very toxic situation and return to teaching.  For the last 7 months, I've been working in a very different environment, with people who see a balanced perspective on life.  What teachers do is life altering and life changing, yet, it doesn't consume us.  Teachers understand that in order to be effective at what we do, and in order to help our students to the best of our abilities, we must first take care of ourselves, and help take care of each other.  With out that mindset and attitude, we would never survive a year of teaching 150 kids every day.  We are not only teaching content, we are teaching culture, appropriate manners/behavior, work habits...we are helping them deal with their different life circumstances, which are very different from student to student.  College coaching is not life altering or life changing.  It is important, however, because without college athletics, athletes would not have the opportunity to get a good education while doing something they love, and for many athletes, it pays for their education, so those who can not afford college have that door opened up to them.  But when it gets to a point where your job is expected to take precedence over your family, your personal life, and anything not related to it, it becomes unbalanced, toxic and dangerous.  I don't know if I would've realized what was happening if I hadn't had some sense of what my priorities are.  I'm grateful to my parents who taught me from an early age about what things in life are important, and what things in life are just....things.   I'm also grateful to an awesome life coach, who had worked with me during my last two years at GW.  She helped me keep a clear perspective, she helped me find ways to better handle the toxic environment, and she helped me give me the strength to stand up for myself in the times that were needed.