Making Hard Choices

Today is a day for reflection; actually, it's tomorrow, but I'm pre-empting it.

It's Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, the Day-Before-Ash-Wednesday-and-the-Beginning-of-Lent.

Also, President Obama has just stated, "Nobody messes with Joe [Biden]."
It's his first address to the joint session of Congress, "the prose that was lacking in the poetry of his Inaugural address". And, of course, he's talking about making hard choices.

Sacking up. Reflecting on how we got here. Developing creative solutions for how to get out of this mess.


Today is the first time in a long time that I've been able to see my spiritual self and my patriotic self working in tandem. In order to do my part for this country, as an American, I have to be my best self. I have to be accountable for my passions, my responsibilities, for the people about whom I care.

I have got to be the best teacher I can be.
How do I even know how to begin?
It could begin concretely, with small steps that I can take during this Lent:
- I am forgoing those things that keep me away from being an excellent teacher,
- specifically long, lazy sessions of reading fiction or napping
- I am being proactive about making a daily connection with each of my students

I can work on my mindset about teaching and continue to instruct with compassion, hard work, and intelligence.

The next forty days starts now.