I Didn't Learn THIS When I Was in 5th Grade...
which is too bad, because it's great life advice. Read on to find out what I'm talking about.
Hey Friends,
Did you know this is the 17th issue of What I’d Rather Be Talking About? Honestly, I’m kind of in shock! First, has it been 17 weeks since the beginning of December?
Second, I can’t believe there are 17 newsletters! It doesn’t feel like 17, which I believe is due to the fact that I honestly LOVE pulling these issues together. Creating the issues doesn’t feel like work.
As I’ve been learning the ropes of newsletter writing, I’ve often thought of the expression, “When you’re doing the work you love, it doesn’t feel like work.” That’s exactly how I feel about this newsletter and my freelance writing in general. Yes, it takes a lot of work and brain power. But I don’t mind, because I love it.
Bonus commercial break:
If you don’t love your current job, watch this Ted Talk or listen to this podcast.
But back to the point of this newsletter.
Looking back at the 16 previous newsletters, I realized they all had something in common. Each letter was inspired by something someone had said to me or something I’d seen or heard online. This got me thinking about the power of our words and how we might be inspiring people and not even know it.
This all leads me to What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week… the fact that life doesn’t always go according to plan. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago while working with a student in a 5th-grade classroom. (As my teacher friends know, classrooms are headquarters for plans being thrown off course.)
At any rate, I was there to help my student with a grammar lesson, but the class was still doing math. Not a true crisis other than it being 5th-grade math, which is downright hard, but the students freaked out because the schedule was off. Because you see… if the grammar lesson was late, their recess would be shorter. Therein lies the problem.
With these high stakes, the kids “expressed their concerns” in a way that only 5th-going on 6th-grade students do - they moaned and shouted things like, “It’s past 9:15.” “We’re supposed to have grammar now.” (As if they wanted to do grammar.)
I could see the first-year teacher slowly losing it.
But instead of yelling at the kids, that teacher did something I thought was super cool.
He stopped the lesson and, with just the right amount of drama, said:
Okay, you guys. I really need you to stop for a minute. Is our schedule off a bit? Yes, yes, it is. But here’s the deal. Things like that happen in life. Schedules get thrown off. Everything doesn’t always go as planned.
Here’s a life lesson for you… Life is going to throw you weird things… all the time. You need to learn how to deal with whatever life throws you, and adjust to it.
Then the teacher did something even cooler. He stopped, pretended he was hitting a baseball and threw in a sports analogy to further drive home his point. Now, did the students fully grasp what he was saying? Tough to say because, remember, recess was at stake.
But seriously, I know some of those kids will remember that message. And I think we all need to hear it. Not because it’s a newsflash (there aren’t enough newsletters in the world to talk about all the weird things life throws…) but rather as a reminder that life is freakin’ unpredictable. And when life does throw us “weird things,” it doesn’t always have to equate to a national crisis in our heads.
Maybe instead, we take a deep breath, remember we’re not alone, and figure out our next moves.
Ponder that for a bit.
Let’s get to the good stuff,
Abbey
LISTEN
PODCAST: Maybe we can prevent some mishaps with good planning. Find out how in this episode of The Genius Life - Daily Habits For a Happier, Healthier, and More Fulfilling Life.
PODCAST: Let’s now talk about creative problem-solving. On this episode of The Accidental Creative, we’re introduced to four ways to get around especially difficult problems, as told by guest Paulo Savaget. He knows because he’s studied the tactics of many innovative organizations and has determined that they often use four key workarounds.
WATCH
Is life throwing you weird things? If so, maybe you need to write to your 22-year-old self and offer advice for later life. That’s the premise of a great book, “tiny beautiful things” and a show coming to Hulu this April. I watched the trailer, and it was This is Us all over again. (I’m talking waterfalls. Kleenex. Consider yourself warned.)
To recover from the trailer, here’s a YouTube that caught my attention: If Things Are Not Going Your Way, Watch This. Takeaway - when things go wrong, consider that maybe the Universe isn’t working against you but for you… and the challenges we face will make sense later.
READ (ALSO PONDER & WATCH, POSSIBLY BUY)
Are you traveling this spring? Take action now to prevent travel mishaps by reading this blog post full of travel resources or watching this YouTube with travel essentials recommended by various influencers from TikTok.
FOR FUN
Okay, please do me a favor and check out this little fireplug’s dance routine. I promise your day will go up a notch.
ON A SERIOUS NOTE
When we talk about life throwing us weird things, sometimes those weird things can be pretty major. Scary, even. I want to share some of my dad’s writing as I close this issue. In this letter, he described those “weird things” as the “tsunamis of life.” I think you’ll enjoy Tsunami 2010 and maybe use it to ponder your life’s storms.
With that, I’ll see you next week!
Thanks for reading! If you haven’t already, I’d love it if you’d hit subscribe.
Take care,
Abbey