Who Might You Be?

September, for me, is all about possibilities. I always feel a sense of hope and optimism. The past year and a half has been tough, and we could all use some hope and optimism, couldn’t we? If I am being completely honest with myself, however, that hope and optimist is tempered with some healthy skepticism and practical concern. But for now, let’s focus on the possibilities, the hope, the optimism.

A return to school is, for me, a return to work. It is a return to doing the work that brings me a sense of purpose and joy – supporting learners in overcoming challenges, discovering with them the passions that fuel their souls, providing opportunities to become who they might be. This year, I am working both with Adolescent Learners in our Alternative Education programs and with Adult Learners in our Adult Education programs. What I love about these learners is that they all have a story. Every one of them has faced an obstacle and decided to overcome it. Many of them didn’t know how they were going to do it. They just knew they didn’t want to miss the opportunity to reach a goal.

I want to be like that too. As I look on my life, I have faced challenges. As I look on the last year, three years, five years, I can see the obstacles and the struggle to overcome. Sometimes those obstacles and struggles have motivated me and sometimes they have held me back.

Who Might I Be?

If I decided today that no challenge, no illness, no age, no global pandemic or circumstance or relationship would keep me from living the life I dream of, who might I be?

If I decided to stop making excuses and to stop being ruled by other people’s opinions of me, who might I be?

If I remembered, every day, that we get this one wild and precious life, what might I do with mine?

So, as the days grow a little shorter and the nights a little cooler, and as the children playing in the streets turn into children heading off to school, I wonder what possibilities await? How about you? Who might you be today? This season? This year? What possibilities await you?

It’s been seven months since I posted on this blog. I hope you will join me as I explore this idea of possibilities and as I unpack what possibilities await me (and us?) as we move forward with hope and optimism (and maybe a little skepticism).