There are exactly 10,080 minutes left in this semester, and these final two weeks of mayhem have been a killer. Let me share my schedule: wake up, work out (mainly running because I don’t have time to hit a gym), drop the kids off at school, work, pick kids up from school, go to school, work, bed (at which time I usually dream that I forgot to do something at work). It’s crazy. It’s hectic. It’s definitely not a life for the weak of heart. And thank God….it’s almost over.
What have I learned? You know, besides the obvious ‘how to be an effective social worker and counselor' (blah, blah, blah). Well, let me share a few lessons. Firstly, the sky does not fall, gravity does not cease to exist, and the universe will not teeter out of balance if you get a C on a paper. Yes, it’s true… after graduating summa cum laude at Penn State, I managed to get a C on a paper in grad school. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. I received my unmerited grade, stormed out of the classroom screaming about the injustices of being the “skinny bitch” in class, and threw on my running shoes for a 5 mile save-my-sanity run. AND after that, I drank a martini…. we are talking a BIG martini that was pieced together with little travel size bottles of Grey Goose (and before you inbox me, I am fully aware of just how damn desperate that sounds). Now I will be honest, it wasn’t the grade that threw me for a loop (even though I would still strongly encourage people NOT to mention that paper in front of me if you value your life, nose, or front teeth), but rather the subtle reminder that even I—the supercharged Army Wife who has more energy than the sun--couldn’t juggle it all perfectly. Something had to give.
Which leads me to lesson number two: you can only run in fifty different directions for so long before you need to change your running shoes. For those who don’t speak running metaphors, let me explain it like this: sometimes, you just have to rely on plan “B” when plan “A” just isn’t cutting it. The past four months I have tried to fit 30 hours of activities into a 24 hour day… now, I was not a math major nor did I ever go to Hogwarts, but I AM 100% certain that it just isn’t possible. Prioritizing, cutting back (even on that elusive “me time”), and learning how to say ‘no’ become essential for survival. I learned (and Congress now agrees) that pizza is a vegetable, eyelash extensions are smoking hot but take way to much upkeep for a geographical single mom, and finding time to eat lunch with my kiddos once a week at school is infinitely more important than earning a pay raise. Life is all about choices—and I guarantee that we will make some good ones and some bad. Embrace the results, and use those consequences to challenge you in the future. You may be tired. You may start equating an extra ten minutes in the shower to nirvana. You may discover that you are wearing your slippers at work…. But that’s ok. As of right now, I am two weeks away from completing my first semester of grad school. Only 10, 042 minutes to go….
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