Putting the Past Behind You

Now that the 2018-2019 school is underway, (my 20th year in education) we all have a chance for a fresh start and a chance to set new goals. Quite frankly, last year was one of the most challenging years, as an educator, that I have every had. In the late fall the city of Ventura was ravaged by the Thomas Fire forcing our students to be out of school for 3 straight weeks which ran up against our winter break, keeping them away from the structure of school for 5 weeks. Upon coming back after the new year, our school was thrown into the public eye as it dealt with some very serious social issues. To say the least, it was a turbulent year, of which I could go on and on about, but that's the point. It's in the past! With the end of the school year and recuperation during the summer, we are moving forward. For me that means getting the start of another great basketball season underway for our boys and girls teams here at Balboa, continuing to develop and grow our robotics program and competition team, sending my extremely intelligent and talented yearbook staff off on another amazing journey of capturing the moments through out the year, as well as educating my computer skills students on all the great ways you can create on a computer. The positive energy is high and the excitement is real. My question is, do we have to wait for some big change, like a new school year to put the past behind us when things aren't going our way? I would suggest that we don't. Life can be broken down into smaller parts. A year, a month, a day, an hour, a minute, a second... To the best of our abilities it is a good idea to use these increments of time to let go of our struggles or problems. Try not to stay mentally stuck on those people or situations that are causing you grief. Simply put the past behind and move on. Or course, that can be easier said then done, but if you work at it and you make a conscious effort to give it your best shot, I am confident you will see yourself getting better and better at it. Take advantage of every day as it is a fresh start every time you get up in the morning!