Pools, Pools, Pools

 Hello, Hello! The last 2 weeks have been a blur. I have worked every day for 3 weeks now and am starting to feel the burn out. 

That being said I have kept up with my promise to make sure I am eating more and better. I am having breakfast before work nearly every day and am getting about 9 hours of sleep a night. My body honestly feels quite great for working 8am-6pm 7 days a week and working out 3 hours 6 days a week. It is very true that a mindset and a goal will keep you going. The physical challenge is nothing compared to the mental battle.

My hope for the next 2 weeks is to read the book I am currently on called Burn The Boats. I am only about 30 pages in but the writing of the author is quite unique and enjoyable. I need to find time around my busy schedule but I have hope.

One thing from the last week that I heard someone say that stuck with me is that we wake up to make money, to make memories. Sometimes those memories never come because those who we wish to make them with are no longer with us or our health is no longer good enough to make the memories we desired. The thing I got form this is to not sacrifice your future for today but do not hold back from memories in the desire to make them later. If you make a plan to make the memories fit into your life plan that is the optimal plan. Take risks and enjoy the ride. Being dumb and throwing your future away is not what I wish for anyone so make your decisions carefully and strategically but live to the fullest. 

A Game Changer

Welcome, Welcome! Sorry for the delay on the post. The weekend caught up with me and I was unable to get to posting on our usual Sunday.

Teaching

This week was the wrap up of my practicum teaching physical education. I passed and quite thankfully enjoyed every second of it. I have nothing but positive things to say about the school I got to be apart of for the last month. They were kind, respectful, and more than anything willing to learn along with me as I journeyed into the world of teaching.

One big take away for me was that we are all human and if you act like it people tend to be quite understanding and empathetic. There were multiple times where I made mistakes, games did not go as well as I hope, or I just missed something all together. When I owned up to my mistake, the students were quick to try and help out or were not upset with me. We worked as a collective to get back on track and proceed in the right direction. One other thing I found was that others began to take ownership for their mistakes as well. They saw that even I make mistakes and no one ridiculed me so it is ok to make light of your own mistakes and proceed in the right direction.

Break Through

A good individual is much more important than an athlete. This break through came from one of the faculty members in the physical education department that I got to spend time with this past month. The whole department adopted this idea that guiding students to be better people is more important than building an athlete. In physical education we can get caught up on the hard skills of throwing, running, jumping, offensive and defensive tactics, and all the athletic capabilities. We sometimes forget other than in health to promote inclusion and if someone is improving in their self awareness, manners, day to day communication, how they carry themselves and all the little skills that make someone a good human being. 

I thought back to my days playing on sports teams and those who were captains on our teams were often good at the sport yes but more than that were positive role models. They said hi to everyone, included people in practice and warm up, pushed others to be better versions of themselves, and ultimately were looking after everyone's best interest. In todays society it is very individual oriented and these soft skill can be lost, especially coming out of the pandemic where we have not had socialization to the fullest capacity in nearly 3 years.

End of the day you could be an amazing athlete but if you are a jerk, I would never want you on my team. I think it is quite beautiful what the school has created and will be carrying it to the schools and day to day interactions that I have.