About three weeks ago I wrote a blog post about my plan (tweaked from previous years) for finding my #OLW22.

Well, in the middle of the best laid plans life tends to get in the way.

And, that’s what happened to me.

I got pretty sick at the beginning of the month and although I’m now on the mend, everything else kinda got put on the back burner to focus on my mental and physical health.

And that’s fine. Actually, that was and is necessary.

This has been such a hard school year. And I use the word hard deliberately.

This isn’t just a challenging year.

It’s a HARD year full of unexpected twists and turns and demands and no time to breathe and feeling like I’m the worst teacher ever and I know everyone is experiencing this at the same time and yet we’re all alone to some extent and I’m grateful for the teachers I work with who care about kids, yes, but also about each other.

Breathe.

So, as I think about how I want 2022 to be, the word flexible comes to mind. And I don’t mean flexible as in just pivot when told to and do it with a smile. No. I mean flexible in terms of figuring out how to best adjust to what is a hard situation in a way that makes sense for me. That respects my personal life and professional principles.

Flexible as in having a tool box of strategies I can go to when I’m struggling so that I don’t continue to dig a hole for myself, crawl into it and stay there indefinitely affecting everyone around me, me worst of all.

Flexible as in recognizing we’re in this situation-that-shall-not-be-named for the long haul. That even if some things don’t change, and may get worse, I am going to figure out ways to make my life joyful, healthy and loving for myself and those around me.

We only get one life and this is it.

Flexible as in life presents so many challenges anyway. The situation-that-shall-not-be-named has made things 10 times worse for most of us – and that is a conservative statement since some people’s lives have been more impacted than that. Nevertheless – I am hoping, and they say hope is the last thing to go, but also intentionally planning (can’t leave these things to fate), to find ways to be flexible this year so I can survive AND thrive.

F-L-E-X-I-B-L-E. My #OLW22

Cross posted to The Two Writing Teachers Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge.