Oh Write It On Your Heart!

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year”. Watching the news this morning I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash talking about their current concert tour. Between that and Sir Paul McCartney celebrating his 70th birthday on Monday…reminds me of a phrase from a John Denver song “The days they pass so quickly now, the nights are seldom long”…

Indeed each day is the best day in the year….the music of our lives, the ideas and memories that fill our hearts….they lead us into prayer and lead us beside still waters. This is what I am writing on my heart this week. Despite struggles, worries, difficulties and sorrows, life is also filled with joys, surprises and triumphs. I write on my heart with joy. Perhaps it is because I teach that summer makes me reflective. Summer was transition time for us when we were children. We would wonder who we would have for teachers in the next school year. We would wonder if our gardens would prosper. We would daydream about books we were reading.

This summer I know that change is afoot. My students are progressing to the next level in math, history, and foreign languages. Some of my students will be moving on to other tutors, as they will need help in courses that I am unable to tutor (like Chemistry, French, and ASL). Some of my students have become strong independent learners and no longer need tutors. But lo and behold, this week I have two new HS students.

When it comes to my students, I write on my heart a lot. I take my responsibility seriously. I seek to not only help them learn the course material, but also to be a role model who inspires them to reach for the stars and set standards of excellence for themselves. I remind them to work hard, and never give up on themselves. It is a joy and an honor to do that.

This summer, this time of transition, I am determined to write something else on my heart. I am determined to walk in lockstep with God as much as possible. I am determined to take care of myself and find balance in my days. What to write on my heart? Each day, take care of myself so that I can take care of others, too. This is something we are told each time we fly. “In the event we lose air pressure, air masks will drop down.  If you are traveling with someone who needs help, put your own mask on FIRST and THEN take care of the person and help them with their air mask”. So I, too, must do that. I have spent a number of years now taking care of family members, and more of that is coming.

In order to have strength for the journey, and in order to have a joyful journey, I must take care of myself first. Not as an afterthought, but as a priority. Most days that will mean writing (either on my anti-bullying project, or other projects and my blog). Most days that will also  mean exercising and getting to a healthy weight by continuing to eat a healthy diet, and perhaps doing something either creative or laugh inducing. All days that will mean beginning and ending in prayer.

Write on my heart? “Carpe Diem”; “How Great Thou Art”; and a whole lot of other things,  too. I journey to streams, rivers, oceans, and lakes in my mind. Water and trees restore me in such a special way. And I will continue to write what is in my mind and heart. I will inscribe my dearest hopes and dreams upon my heart. How can I not write on my heart? I have been writing since I was three 🙂