When Anxiety Strikes

     The other day, I was on my way into work. I was listening to a book and all seemed just fine. The sun was shining, and the roads were clear on a cold winter morning. Everything was just... fine...... until I realized that I was scrunching up my shoulders and feeling a bit stressed. The funny thing was that I didn't think I was stressed at all.

    Apparently, I was wrong about that. The closer I got to the school, the more I felt myself starting to get stressed. "Relax," I said to myself. "Everything is fine. I am just on my way to school and I have no reason to be worried." Well, if today is anything like so many others (that seem to be the norm for the last 2 years), I guess I might have reason to be worried. But today- I was not planning on being worried at all. And yet, my level of anxiety was increasing the closer I got. Needless to say, that was frustrating for me. 

    I did my best to take a deep breath and relax my shoulders. No matter what I might find to be the case at school, I will be just fine. I will adjust and make do with whatever comes my way. I'll put a smile on my face and make the best of it. I walk into school and brace myself for what is to come. 

    Luckily, at the onset of the day...nothing much to worry about. I greeted my fellow colleagues on my end of the building and hoped for the best. Then, I walked down the hall to greet my other colleagues (the teachers of the little people) and shared my story about the ride into school. To my surprise, one of them had a similar story. So, it wasn't just me who finds herself stressing out in the car on the way to work! That is certainly reassuring, though still doesn't make me feel good. We chat about how anxiety just seems to creep into our teaching lives these days. This is something that has never seemed to be the case before the COVID Pandemic struck!

   The long and the short of this post is that if you are feeling anxiety on the way to school, while you are in school, or even when you are just trying to live your life outside of school, you are not alone. The day to day decisions that we have to make are down right difficult. But, you can be confident knowing that when push comes to shove, you know how to put on a brave face and be a professional. You will teach the kids and they will never know that you are forcing yourself to smile and laugh and enjoy the job that you thought was all about seeing those inevitable "a ha" moments of the kids. 

    Remember to take a deep breath and talk to a colleague. We are all in the same boat!