Find your inspiration

Today I was inspired. Not that is anything new or even blog worthy, but it was the way I was inspired and the de thoughts that came after that was so meaningful. It was a reflective type of inspiration that was so great I couldn't wait to write this blog.

Every year at this time my husband and I leave the cold, gray, windy Chicago to visit my dad I the beautiful, warm Vero Beach, FL on the Atlantic. As we were out running today in the beach the inspiration struck me. Running for me has always been inspiring. It is the way my head gets cleared and how in tune to my body that I get that opens my mind for inspiration. Today was a little different as it wasn't just a new lesson idea that hit me but a series of ideas that made it so I almost sat right down on the beach and wrote is blog on the beach in the middle of my run. That is inspiration.

I was so struck by the sand and the ocean and the symbolism of it all. How every time the waves came in it left a clean slate. How that could be the start of each new class that I teach. That there is always a chance to improve. I continued my thought train to think about the unknown treasures that lie in the ocean and on the beach. I saw a few people scouring the sand to unearth these treasures. I thought of my students and how we as teachers are like these beach combers. We are looking to unearth treasures of knowledge with our students. I also got to thinking about theses treasures wondering where they have been and where they will end up. Again, I couldn't help but draw the parallel to our students and how I could keep this in mind when creating lessons.

I then came upon some footprints. There were two sets, a child and adult. I began thinking about who they were and what they were thinking as they were on the same path as I was. I began thinking about how different we are as children as compared to ourselves as adults. The child's mind is so open for learning, discovering and creating and somehow we lose that as an adult. I want to keep this in mind as I teach. I want to remember these footsteps.

But perhaps the most inspiring to me was my husband, iRyan. As we were running together, as we always do, I couldn't help but be inspired. In college Ryan had a new kind of surgery on his hip called a free fibular graft, which replaced his dying hip bone with his own fibula. And yet, he has run two marathons and runs miles every day. I know that he has pain every so often from this, but he doesn't let it stop him. It's hard for me to understand this pain as I have only rolled an ankle, but I am inspired. He reminds me that even if it gets hard, or painful, we can carry on.

What's your inspiration? How do you keep it close?