January 4, 2016

• Three gratitudes: 1.—A hot cup of coffee from The Friendly Coffee Lounge on my way to work; 2.—A colleague who takes my morning supervision duty; 3—After school naps
• Exercise: None. This is becoming a problem.
  
• Meditation: Prayed a rosary with intentions for specific illnesses within our faculty.
  
• Random Act of Kindness email: A message.
  
• Journal about one positive experience in the past 24 hours:

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There must be something in the air.  Yesterday I was “friended” by a former student from my years at Proviso East High School.  Today, during the last period of the day, two familiar faces appeared in my classroom window.  They are in college now, former 7th-8th grade students from my previous job, who were visiting their old high school, which happens to be my current school.  One went away to Princeton while the other stayed local, and no matter where their lives are leading, when I look at those beaming eyes and smiles, all I see are beautiful 8th grade graduates draped in blue gowns, tears forming in their eyes in bittersweet acknowledgement that a new world was opening before them.  Fast forward five years, and they’ve already graduated from high school, too, with another new world before them.  How about that?  And just as I started typing today’s Happiness Challenge gratitudes, my Facebook beeped.  This cannot be happening!  Iris, a student from my very first teaching position at St. Bs—a place that holds a special place in my heart—was “friending” me!  Every teacher remembers that first year, right?  Iris was in the seventh grade back then, which makes her (big gulp) in her late thirties.  I feel like I’m on that show This Is Your Life.  If you haven’t guessed by now, I love my job, and I adore my students—past, present, and future!