2012 - healthy mind, healthy body.

My "resolution" for 2012 (I only say "resolution" because I never actually follow through with them, and really, who needs a specific date to change their life?) is to have a healthy mind and healthy body. I've tackled the healthy body aspect of this by deciding to do a Detox, inspired both by my work at the Y, and by a friend who is currently in her second week of one. I've chosen the program on wholeliving.com (you can view it here), which offers a free 21- or 28- day plan to rid your body of the nasty stuff that affects our energy, sleep, and attitude. I've also decided to start this so I can actually be held accountable to something. I can't even tell you how many times I've tried to start eating healthy, but something gets in my way.

So, here I go. Today's my first day, and so far I've only had an orange-berry smoothie for breakfast. It was a little tart, with only the natural sweetness from the berries, but giving up added sugar is definitely going to take more than a day to get used to.

The healthy mind aspect is going to take a little more work. I've been really frustrated with my job situation for well, almost two years now. I definitely did not think I'd graduate with a Masters in Education from one of the top education schools in the country to become a waitress. Or to work for Member Services for the YMCA. That's not to say that I don't love my job, because I do. It's great. I meet new people every day and work with an awesome staff. It's just not what I thought I'd be doing. But for the past two school years, I have had to accept the fact that I need to seek work else where. I've gotta say, the first year was expected (or at least not that much of a shocker), but by now, its the second year around that I haven't landed a job, and it's really frustrating. Although many people have told me to look into other fields, I can't seem to shake the idea of teaching. I love it. I'm passionate about it. And I'm GOOD at it. It took me a whole year of student teaching to convince myself of that, but my mentor teacher wouldn't lie to me; my field instructor wouldn't; and student evaluations certainly don't.

So for this year, I think I need to have a better attitude. My mom's entire family goes out for a big Chinese dinner every year a few days after Christmas, and this year my fortune said, "Be an optimist. There does not seem too much use being anything else." I taped the fortune to the back of my phone (it's okay, it's an old BlackBerry), so I see it every day. I think that's the kind of attitude I need to have. I can't assume that I'm not going to get a teaching job again. I'll just have to work that much harder on my portfolio and my cover letter. So, I'll enjoy my work right now, because I don't have much of a choice. Abraham Lincoln said, "Whatever you are, be a good one." I guess for right now, I'll just be the best [detoxed] Member Service Representative I can.