New Beginnings

Finally, the first day of the new semester has arrived. No first day jitters yet. Too many other things on my mind to give one complete day over to wondering how the new term will go. Falling as it does in between the days of yom tov it's competing with planning the shopping and preparing for the rest of yom tov and a major dental appointment this week. Or just maybe the gift this year is my finally realizing that what ever is going to happen today and throughout the term is going to happen whether I spend the day contemplating all the possibilities or not.

I've decided I'm just going to enjoy the day, the meeting of the new students, and stop anticipating any glitches that might occur. This term all the students are going to be committed, organized and enthusiastic, full stop. I've started my day so relaxed that my family has to wonder who this "masked man" really is. Normally they tiptoe around me on the first day of classes.

Lesson learned? You're never too old to change a way of doing things, to break with a pattern that's been around forever. Saying that something has always been done one way doesn't mean that another way cannot be substituted, bringing new benefits with it. There is a big difference between being stuck in a rut and accepting that and having chosen a particular approach because of its benefits. Took me a while but I think I've finally figured out that anxiety before the fact is not a benefit. Planning is one thing; obsessing is quite another.

Hopefully I'll remember all this as the time for class arrives.