Sunday, October 24, 2010

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

That used to be a commercial jingle. Remember? If you do, you must be at least 40 years old, like me (I'm AT LEAST 40...). It was a commercial for "Total" cereal, marketing toward those of us who want a new start, who feel like we've "blown it" if we have a few bites of something decadent.

I used it today because I like new chances and first days. I need new chances. Yesterday's post was harsh and negative. I am in a technology class this semester, and we share our blogs and I thought, I haven't posted in two weeks and I need to. Then I read it this morning and thought, nobody will want to follow me when they read that! After I thought about it though, I think all of the class will understand the overwhelming nature of the teaching profession. You will note that I didn't say it was the worst job ever - just one of the most demanding.

Where I was heading yesterday, before I ran out of time, was toward making choices in the face of events we don't choose. I'd like to share a couple of experiences from yesterday after I blogged.

First, I went to the Buddy Walk, a fundraiser for the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee. My friend Chris has a wonderful 2-year-old, Carson, who has DS. He is such a sweetheart! I waved at him, and he blew me a kiss. Chris and wife Laurie didn't choose to have a child with DS, but they have chosen a life of joy with Carson.

Later in the day, I went to the play "Spirit" with Mom & Rach. In the program, playwright David Alford wrote about his reasons for writing the play and said, "Because in every age people have been affected by events beyond their control. It is how we respond to these events - to the work of the Spirits - that defines who we are, and makes us truly human beings."

At the Buddy Walk, one team's shirts said, "Down Syndrome unites us; it does not define us." DS itself may not define them, but their choice of a life of joy defines them.

I think I have a choice to make!

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