My Intention For This School Year

 

Each school year, I set an intention or goal.  Something simple and achievable...

This year my intention is literally three little words. 

As I get older, I'm starting to realize that my not so good habits are getting a teeny bit out of control. For example, I tend to overthink things ALOT. Like this morning, for instance, I was driving to work and approaching the part of Killian Hill Road when two lanes merge into one. We have this silly joke in my family of hitting the gas pedal fast and making a quick left turn when there is oncoming traffic - we call it "punch it," but we never actually do it if it's unsafe.  Well I decided to "punch it" and go around a silver Honda CRV before the lanes became one. I may have cut the car off behind me, and when I glanced in my rearview mirror, I saw that it was a colleague of mine! "Oh shoot!" I said. "That's what I get for punching it."

All morning I debated...do I say something? Do I apologize? Or just leave it alone? This is what I'm talking about. I'm an overthinker. Well, I sought out that colleague, and I did apologize.  Turns out, she wasn't even aware that I cut her off. I'm starting to wonder if I did at all.

I'm also finding that I have paralysis of analysis, and it's getting worse. I can check an email or newsletter, over and over again for typos and mistakes. When I write a lesson plan, I re-read it way too many times. I even do this with text messages. Like, who cares if I misspell a word? It's not the end of the world. You can only imagine how many times I'm re-reading this blog post. This has to end!

So what are those three little words you ask? They are - just do it. Just send the text, email or newsletter. Just do it, literally. Don't overthink it or over-analyze it. Just. Do. It.

Is it working? I only started this month, but I'm gently reminded about my intention every moment I get stuck inside my own head.  I hope it's only a matter of weeks before I'm free of my bad habits. I'll keep you posted.