Wow! It’s already the latter part of March…Spring Break is nearly over! 2015 seems to be passing by very quickly.
To be honest, I’ve written many blog posts in my head but could not bring myself to sit down and type them. I’m not sure why…
Perhaps the tone wasn’t going to be very positive. Although I’ve had remained upbeat and positive in most of my personal interactions with people in real life and online, I’ve really been masking an internal conflict.
2015 started out well. It was a new semester at school. I was training for the Surf City Half-Marathon. My own kids were doing well at school. My wife’s health was improving. My health was improving…
Then late January, I woke up itching, covered in hives, dizzy, and nauseous. This episode of urticaria was going to stay with me for about four weeks. It tough to stay positive when you feel terrible. But just like this photo that I found on Invisible Illness Awareness Week’s FB page, I had to just keep going and survive.
A few days later, I received news from the Philippines that my grandmother passed away. Needless to say, I was in a funk for a few days.
The Surf City Half-Marathon came on February 1st. It was a goal that distracted me and kept me going. This was going to be my second half-marathon and I was planning on beating my previous time with a 2:10. Sadly, my wheels fell off after mile 9 and I finished with a 2:19. I guess it wasn’t a terrible finish but I was really disappointed in myself. Maybe I’ll eventually get around to writing that race recap…
So, I was already feeling down and a few days later I was meeting with my principal to talk about my annual goals. The meeting was going very well until I received the news that I’ve been dreading since I became a Health teacher– I was advised to get another credential because Health was likely to be phased out of the school district in a couple of years.
I was crushed.
I’ve been devoted to teaching Health for the past 12 years in my school district but with the new science standards being phased in, there wasn’t going to be anymore room in the schedule to teach Health. Health has always taken a back seat to other curricula in the district and now it’s not even going to be offered anymore! I guess nobody cares about health. It just isn’t really that important… and I started to feel like I wasn’t really that important either.
I could continue this rant and keep feeling sorry for myself, but that’s another blog post.
Okay… *inhale* *exhale*
But, life in the first quarter of 2015 hasn’t been all bad.
I got to meet some of my social media friends in real life, bond with my running friends, and reconnect with old friends.
Top Left: Nicole of @cookiesontherun, Top Right: Friends from No Meat Athlete OC, Middle Left: Emily & Olivia from Keystone Science School, Middle Right: Taryn @vegataryn, Bottom Left: Joshua, classmate from high school, and Bottom Right: Jesica of @jesrunonorganic
I biked to the “Top of the World” with my buddy Jason.
Despite our busy schedules, my family and I got to spend some quality time together.
So, life is good… it’s tough sometimes, but it’s good. Just gotta keep on marching forward. Stay tuned for more positive scheduled programming.
