The Purpose of the Daily Grind

The newness has worn off.

The fresh smell of erasers has worn off.

The fun of ripping shrink wrap off of looseleaf paper is gone.

The adrenaline is wearing off.

The grind is setting in.

It's in this moment that one decides to be thankful for the grind...to embrace the grind...to fall in love with the grind...to find joy in the grind.

Or, it's in this moment that one decides to complain about the grind...reject the grind...avoid the grind...to be depressed in the grind.

It's a choose.

I choose the former.

This is time of year I consciously remind myself of why I chose education, not medicine.

I chose education for the 'dirty work' of the everyday. Not, the visit of a patient every two weeks.

So, now I must swallow my words and dive in weary, challenged, yet hopeful and joyful to the ordinary grind of the daily life.

For it is in these moments, that life is practiced and lived.

Doesn't make it easier, but the light-bulb moments of students or the game-winning save of players become the highlights of the grind's daily hard work.

Moral of the Story: For it is in the ordinary that the extraordinary evolves.