Want to know what's on my mind today?
Oxygen Masks
One of the safety announcements you hear on a plane is...
In
the event of a change in cabin air pressure, oxygen masks will drop.
Please put the mask over your face to begin oxygen flow.
But it's what they say next that's been on my mind...
Apply your oxygen mask FIRST before assisting others.
So, when I saw the image below floating around Facebook, it got me thinking.
I'm a member of a few different teacher-themed groups on Facebook. And lately I've been noticing a trend in almost all of them...
Almost every day, there are a handful of people who post about being burned out or totally exhausted and even some from teachers who are questioning whether they even want to continue in the field of teaching at all.
Have I felt that way?
Honestly... I was on the verge of burn out at one point in my teaching career. My schedule kept getting fuller and fuller and there was no reprieve in sight. And I felt that if Christmas Break would not have come when it did, I just would not have made it much longer.
And that's coming from me...
Someone who 100% prides herself in following the passion and the call God has placed on her life.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I live and breathe teaching.
And yet, there I was...
Consistently putting the "oxygen mask" on my students - 100% meeting their needs, doing whatever it took to teach them, to differentiate as necessary to meet their individualized needs, to help them grow and succeed, to see they left my room feeling loved and encouraged...
I did it all.
And then I would go home after school and crash.
I stopped having people over (something I love).
I stopped going places after school/in the evenings (which I love to do).
Basically, every single evening, I would come home, crash on the sofa and rotate between watching a mindless TV show and sleeping through a mindless TV show. And I would do that until it was time to go to bed at night.
I was basically coasting through life, so to speak.
And then Christmas Break came.
And I finally had some time to stop and breathe and reflect.
And do you know what I realized?
I realized two things.
~ one ~
I was succeeding at my job of teaching/taking care of the students. I was meeting all of their needs. They were learning. They were happy. They always felt loved and encouraged. Yet, I was failing at taking care of myself.
Or to use the oxygen mask example... I was so busy applying all of their oxygen masks, that I'd forgotten my own and as a result, I was struggling to breathe.
~ two ~
I'd forgotten something even bigger than that...
I'd gotten so busy in the day to day responsibilities of my job, that I'd forgotten to focus on The One who gives me breath in the first place. I'd gotten so busy in my work, that my own prayer and Bible study time was slacking.
The irony of this is that my job - which is a ministry related job, no less, includes teaching children the Bible and all about God's goodness.
So there I was, studying the Bible enough to prepare lessons for my students... Praying with my students in class, praying for their needs, praying for their requests, praying before meals...
Yet, at the same time, I was bottling up all of my own feelings/requests... I was keeping them all tucked away inside and not handing them over to God. I was dealing with some stuff and not giving control over to God.
I spent so much time and energy on my job (my ministry) that I had no time and energy to spend on myself. I was exhausted all the time. I was super stressed. I was not physically/mentally/emotionally healthy. I know that. And I put on a brave/strong front. I continued to excel at my job. But internally, I was a mess.
So what did I do?
I had a nice, long chat with God, the giver of breath and life.
I asked Him to help me.
I asked Him to help me give it all to Him...
My students and myself.
And I asked Him to help me to better take care of myself so I could continue to take care of these precious gifts He'd allowed me to teach.
I'm a member of a few different teacher-themed groups on Facebook. And lately I've been noticing a trend in almost all of them...
Almost every day, there are a handful of people who post about being burned out or totally exhausted and even some from teachers who are questioning whether they even want to continue in the field of teaching at all.
Have I felt that way?
Honestly... I was on the verge of burn out at one point in my teaching career. My schedule kept getting fuller and fuller and there was no reprieve in sight. And I felt that if Christmas Break would not have come when it did, I just would not have made it much longer.
And that's coming from me...
Someone who 100% prides herself in following the passion and the call God has placed on her life.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I live and breathe teaching.
And yet, there I was...
Consistently putting the "oxygen mask" on my students - 100% meeting their needs, doing whatever it took to teach them, to differentiate as necessary to meet their individualized needs, to help them grow and succeed, to see they left my room feeling loved and encouraged...
I did it all.
And then I would go home after school and crash.
I stopped having people over (something I love).
I stopped going places after school/in the evenings (which I love to do).
Basically, every single evening, I would come home, crash on the sofa and rotate between watching a mindless TV show and sleeping through a mindless TV show. And I would do that until it was time to go to bed at night.
I was basically coasting through life, so to speak.
And then Christmas Break came.
And I finally had some time to stop and breathe and reflect.
And do you know what I realized?
I realized two things.
~ one ~
I was succeeding at my job of teaching/taking care of the students. I was meeting all of their needs. They were learning. They were happy. They always felt loved and encouraged. Yet, I was failing at taking care of myself.
Or to use the oxygen mask example... I was so busy applying all of their oxygen masks, that I'd forgotten my own and as a result, I was struggling to breathe.
~ two ~
I'd forgotten something even bigger than that...
I'd gotten so busy in the day to day responsibilities of my job, that I'd forgotten to focus on The One who gives me breath in the first place. I'd gotten so busy in my work, that my own prayer and Bible study time was slacking.
The irony of this is that my job - which is a ministry related job, no less, includes teaching children the Bible and all about God's goodness.
So there I was, studying the Bible enough to prepare lessons for my students... Praying with my students in class, praying for their needs, praying for their requests, praying before meals...
Yet, at the same time, I was bottling up all of my own feelings/requests... I was keeping them all tucked away inside and not handing them over to God. I was dealing with some stuff and not giving control over to God.
I spent so much time and energy on my job (my ministry) that I had no time and energy to spend on myself. I was exhausted all the time. I was super stressed. I was not physically/mentally/emotionally healthy. I know that. And I put on a brave/strong front. I continued to excel at my job. But internally, I was a mess.
So what did I do?
I had a nice, long chat with God, the giver of breath and life.
I asked Him to help me.
I asked Him to help me give it all to Him...
My students and myself.
And I asked Him to help me to better take care of myself so I could continue to take care of these precious gifts He'd allowed me to teach.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Today, I'm joining Ashley and Erika for their monthly Tuesday Talk link-up,
where we, bloggers, come together and talk about whatever is on our
mind at the moment.
And yes, I do realize that it's Friday :)
And yes, I do realize that it's Friday :)
If you missed my previous Tuesday Talk posts this year, you can click on the links below to check each of them out.
January - Introduction to Me
February - The Little Things
March - You Might Be A Special Ed Teacher If...
April - Spring Break in America
May - Home Assignments
June - He's here.
* No post in July *
August - A Lesson on God's Provision and Love
September - Who Holds the Future
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