Reflections on Mental Health

Mental Health is an important topic and one that is becoming more talked about, which will hopefully help take the stigma away.   Urban Meyer opened up about his struggles and made me realize that mental health is not black and white.  It is a great article and brings information about struggles many people face out of hiding.

I am not a Division 1 football coach and I do not pretend that my life is as stressful as his, but I found myself relating to many things that he talked about.  Often when I think about depression or anxiety, I think about a person not being able to get out of bed or overwhelming sadness.  I don't think about the high level of expectation I place on myself or the negative self talk that fills my head at times.

Many people, myself included, live under the illusion that people who have it all together never struggle.  Not all depression or anxiety leads to medication.  I have never experienced severe depression, but at the same time life is not always roses and sunshine.  Severe depression and anxiety need professional help, but I also believe it is vital that we all realize that we have moments of struggle.  Although these moments are "normal," it is important that we also notice these symptoms and learn to handle them better.  

At the end of the day it does not matter how many items I check off my To Do list or other non-important stats that we tie our happiness to.

Symbaloo Lesson Plans

Towards the end of last year I discovered Symbaloo Lesson Plans.  I find this website to be perfect when I have multiple videos or pieces of information I want to share.  In a 1:1 setting, this program allows students to work at their own pace on lessons created by their teacher.  I do not work in a 1:1 district, but I still find this program to be very useful and it presents everything with a fun game board.

Symbaloo Lesson Plans

Common Curriculum

I have been teaching for eight years and it seems like every year I spend time reinventing the wheel.  Last year I discovered the website Common Curriculum.  It takes a little more time than my normal planning (I used to write my lesson plans in a notebook), but I can transfer the lessons over from one year to another.  I don't want my lessons to become boring, but having the standards and lesson information already done makes planning a lot easier.  It allows me to change and update lessons as needed without having to rewrite everything each year.

My current district uses the Quaver Curriculum and are lessons align with those standards and resources. 

Mrs. Wren's Lesson Plans

Time to be Selfish

I don't know if it is a women thing or if it is just part of my personality, but I have learned (the hard way) that I have a hard time asking for help.  After the birth of my first child, I was more uncomfortable than necessary because I refused to ask the nurses for help.  I did not want to bother them, so I did not ask for things as often as I should have.  I learned my lesson and recovery after my second child went a lot better. Even though I asked for help more often, the nurses never once seemed bothered.  There are people in this world who genuinely want to help those around them.

My husband tells me I am an independent, self sufficient women.  I have learned that this is also code for being stubborn.  I expect to be able to take care of everything and do everything myself.  As I have added a husband, a commute, a job and two kids to the equation, at times it becomes too much to handle all on my own.  Unfortunately, I am still working on learning to recognize the signs of feeling overwhelmed so I can take steps to avoid a frustration/stress induced meltdown.  Thankfully I have a husband who is supportive and is learning to recognize the signs so that he can help me.

It sounds selfish, but we need to take care of ourselves.  As moms and wives, I know this can be hard.  For me, it is extremely hard! We need to put our own well being as priority one.  During an airplane crises, they tell you to put your air mask on first because if you are not taken care of, you cannot take care of your family.  Now, I realize there is a fine line.  I cannot become extravagant in my mission to "take care of myself." It is not in the best interest of my family or myself for me to sleep 12 hours a day, miss work or other responsibilities and call it "taking care of myself."  However, I do believe it is important and vital to make time for myself during the day.  Even if that is an hour broken up throughout the day.  Finding balance does not mean equal.  Finding time to pray, Bible Study, journal, sleep and exercise are important for my mental, physical and emotional well being.  When I take care of myself, I am better able to take care of those around me. 

How do you make taking care of yourself a priority?  What activities help you be at your best?

Reading

How do you keep track of your reading?

One of my monthly focuses for April is to use GoodReads more consistently. After a month of using it regularly, I have increased the amount of time I read and it has allowed me to keep track of books I want to read and ones that I have read. I read a lot of short eBooks and I find I forget to write these down.  I also go through periods where I read many books in a short amount of time.  Taking the time to enter these into GoodReads (or any other program) is something I often forget, but it is important.  I also would like to spend more time reflecting and writing about what I am reading, so that I can make sure I gain the most I can from each book.

I also appreciate the social aspect of GoodReads. I signed up for a reading challenge and it motivates me to make reading a priority.

Tough Choices

We stopped at Walgreens over Thanksgiving Break and as we were shopping another car backed into our vehicle and left the parking lot.  Luckily, two employees saw the car and were able to get a description of the other car.  Unfortunately they were unable to see the licence plate and at this time we have not heard anything more about who hit our car.

Life is full of choices and we make hundreds of choices a day: what to wear, what to eat, what to cook, what to buy, what to do, what to say and the choices go on and on. Some of these choices are easy, some are of little consequence and others are very important. Sometimes I don't feel like doing the right thing or saying the right thing and sometimes doing the right thing is hard, but the consequences can be severe. 

Being a mom is teaching me a whole new level of patience. I know how I want to treat my child and I know she deserves to be treated kindly and respectfully. It does not make me proud to admit I have raised my voice at her when I am tired or don't feel like dealing with something she is doing. How am I going to respond to her when she is cute and loveable? How am I going to respond when she is screaming, I am tired and it's the middle of the night? It's hard to be kind. It's hard to be respectful, all the time. The consequence of being rude or mean to my child ruins far more than one positive action gains and at the end of the day it is worth it to be kind. I would much rather continue to build on our positive relationship than spend even more energy trying to fix what I broke in a moment of frustration. The same philosophy works in terms of all relationships. 

The person who hit my car would have had a consequence had they taken responsibility for their actions. If they are caught now, their consequences will be more severe. 

We have choices everyday. Are you going to admit you hit the car or drive away? Are you going to treat those around you respectfully even if they don't deserve it or you don't feel like it?

We make hundreds of choices a day. Choose wisely. 

Audio Books

I am thankful for a random conversation with a coworker that reminded me about audio books. I spent most of this school listening to podcasts and I enjoy them but sometimes I like something more in depth. Also, sometimes I have to wait for new episodes and I am stuck with nothing to listen to.  I find that I feel more overwhelmed when I don't get a chance to read. Reading is time for myself and a chance to learn and grow.

My library uses the program Axis360 which allows access to eBooks and audio books. The best part is it is free. Most audio books I have found are around ten hours which means I can finish about a book a week if I listen during my commute. I feel like I am now using this time to the best of my ability and taking advantage of this time to learn and grow.

If you enjoy reading but are short on time, I strongly suggest audio books. Plus, there are so many great programs that allow access to audio books.