TL;DR:
- Slow down to acknowledge and appreciate the good things.
- Make sure to savor the good things this summer.
Savoring the Saturday of Summer
It’s July. As my dear friend Corinne would say, it’s the Saturday of summer. If anybody asks us how we’re doing, we are nothing short of elated. Yet, we may also admit we are still recovering from the past school year. Since most of us expected this year to be a little more…normal (bless us each and every one), many educators end this year feeling weary for reasons that are difficult to precisely pinpoint or describe. It was just so much.
Our invitation this month is to slow down enough to acknowledge when things work out and are just plain good. Click To TweetI think one of the reasons we are so weary is because we continue to focus on what didn’t go as planned this year, what didn’t work out.
To counteract this feeling, today’s sunny July story and invitation is inspired from a cold February memory with one of my best friends, Kristin.
Besties. Buffalo. Billie Eilish. Kristin and I surprised our 13-year-old daughters with tickets to see their beloved Billie in blustery Buffalo (and for those of you wondering, Ms. Eilish put on an amazing show! We loved it!).
As our 6 hour road trip from Philadelphia to Buffalo began, we caught up on school gossip and sang along to some 90s hits. We tried to be efficient grownups and check into the hotel using the hotel app. After a few failed attempts, we talked with someone to help us out. As we were put on hold, Kristin and I started to get a bit nervous that part of our plan was about to fall through, but the kind receptionist came back to announce that not only would our room be ready when we arrived, but that we were also getting a room upgrade! We went from a parking lot view to a view overlooking Lake Erie (this may not sound like a luxurious upgrade to some of you, but is actually a lovely upgrade in Buffalo, so let us live).
When we learned of this unexpected upgrade, Kristin declared, “I mean, everything always works out for us!”
“Everything always works out for us.” What a declaration, right?
“Everything Works Out for Us!”
Kelly Corrigan teaches us that we pick our emotion when we set our expectation. We pick our emotion when we set our expectation. In other words, since Kristin proclaimed everything was working out for us, guess what? That’s what we chose to focus on for 72 straight hours.
It rained when we got to the famous Anchor Bar, but we found an amazing parking spot (cue Kristin shouting for the parking spot and the fact it wasn’t snowing!).
On the one day we took our daughters to see Niagara Falls, the sun actually peeked out for a short time and we snapped some good pictures (Kristin proclaims, “Everything works out for us!” yet again).
We somehow figured out our hotel key opened a room with delicious snacks and Diet Pepsi (it’s all still working out according to Kristin).
All we needed came to us at the right time.
I am not saying we wished our way into a picture-perfect weekend; that’s not realistic. There was an engine light that came on during our trip home, a lost $30 concert poster (I mean what in the world?!), and a GPS that got us a bit turned around navigating downtown Buffalo. But the big takeaway is that once we decided it would all work out, it actually kind of did. The belief that “everything always works out for us” helped us move through our days a bit more presently. We savored the memories as they were being made.
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What is Working Out for Us?
This school year did not work out the way most of us envisioned. As we catch our collective breath, let’s lean into the radical acceptance that it unfolded the way it did. Now that we’ve had some time for closure and are leaning into summer, we get to pick our emotion as we set our expectation. What is working out for us? What is going right? Our invitation this month is to slow down enough to acknowledge when things work out and are just plain good.
A sleep in.
Hot coffee in a real mug.
Flip flops.
Running errands any time of the day.
Slow starts.
Deep breaths.
Lowered shoulders.
In this magnificent Saturday of summer, it’s all going to work out. May this belief help us move through our days a bit more presently, allowing us to savor the summer memories as they are being made.
Let’s believe it. Let’s proclaim it. Let’s see it.
About Suzanne Dailey
Suzanne Dailey is a proud member of the Teach Better Family! She is an instructional coach in the Central Bucks School District where she has the honor and joy of working with elementary teachers and students in 15 buildings. Suzanne is Nationally Board Certified, a Fellow of the National Writing Project, and has a master’s degree in Reading. She is dedicated to nurturing and developing the whole child and teacher. Suzanne lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.
Check out the Teach Happier Podcast here!
