Sometimes Turning Means...Turning Off

I would like to start off by saying that this is more spaghetti than I am use to. I tend to be more of a waffle guy. (If you read the book, you know what I am talking about)

My goal this week was to unveil a project I was working on with my daughter. Unfortunately, life got in the way of finishing our project. It's funny how that happens. This past week has seen a plethora of activities and signs are showing that a slow down is not in the forcast until next weekend.

I titled this weeks post, "Sometimes Turning Means...Turning Off."  I did this because sometimes turning in life means that we need to turn off our wants and put them aside, just for a while, to make room for things that in the scope of life seem more important.

Sometimes taking care of yourself means taking care of others and putting their needs above your own. That has been the story of my week. Helping people at school during my planning time, taking children to math carnivals at their school, planning and organizing homecoming activities for next week and then on Saturday...I got to spend this morning (my iPad was acting up and the laptop was too, which meant work would have to wait) with my 5 year old son (he had earned a VALUABLE coupon from his teacher which entitled him to a free kid's meal at Chik-Fil-A). My wife needed groceries and medicine for her and the rest of the children. Two of the three children were laying on the couch in various states of stuffy noses and headaches. The fourth, my oldest was enveloped in his iPod and feeling "ok."

Needless to say I was not in a great mood at the state of things when I woke up. I am admittedly, a person who doesn't "change gears" easily. I have a plan...I stick to it. Do not change my plan unless you have given me enough time to process the change. Which will take somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 to 14 days (more if holidays are involved). But my wife so lovingly reminded me that all these things were not "have to's," they were "get to's."

So I headed out with number 4 and we proceeded to get groceries and medicine and stop off at the mall to happily eat Chik-Fil-A.

Upon returning home, the laptop was working and the iPad was too. Coincidence or even divine intervention some might say. For me it was a reminder that in our quest to achieve, we have to take time for the "get to's."

Oh, for those waiting...I have (with my daughter's guidance) created a pen that holds...chalk! Up until this year at my school I had only chalkboards to work with. No whiteboards, smartboards or anything fancy. Maps were painstakingly traced from my overhead projector. I still have and use my chalkboards (I finally got a smartboard this year!) frequently and my daughter noticed that I always come home with chalk dust on my pants. So we decided that I needed a chalk holder so I wouldn't get dust on my pants. It is rather unique and works wonderfully. I will post pictures later this week.

Take some time this week to turn off and take care of your self by reveling in a "get to" moment. You may not get another and you will be immensely happy that you did.

Happy Turning!