It's officially August, which means that my Summer is almost over. It sucks, but at least I've been blessed to have been keeping myself busy at a job that I really enjoy. I don't know what I would have been doing for these last 6 weeks if I wasn't working! I think it's amazing how literally everything I have done in terms of school/volunteering/interning has helped me to face the challenge of this job. All the little things really DO matter and that's just another reason to believe that my life is in someone else's hands.
When I was at mass a few weeks ago at home, the priest at my parish gave a good homily about getting enough rest. He said that we all need to rest in three different ways: physically, mentally, and psychologically. He discussed how people just work, work, and work as if somehow that work will someday disappear. But there will ALWAYS be some kind of work to do. We have to step back sometimes and take care of ourselves first. If we are not fully rested, especially psychologically, we will not be able to let God's presence into our lives. Our priorities will be altered and we won't be happy. We need to find peace, and we find that inner peace through Him and Him alone. I loved this homily because the person he described was me. I think back to when I was sooo overwhelmed with school last year and how much that impacted my spiritual life. I chose to study over going to church. I chose sleep over prayer. I chose drinking over venting. I chose eating over exercise. No wonder why I was so miserable. I didn't see it then, but now it's so clear. I made the wrong decisions because I wasn't taking care of myself. With a new school year near, I just have to remember this homily and incorporate it into my everyday life.
Tomorrow is my last day working at Destination Science's Redondo Beach site. The last six weeks just flew by and I'm extremely sad that I will have to pack up my things tomorrow and "move out" of the classroom I've been teaching in. I've grown to love driving to work every Mon-Fri, meeting a new group of kids every week, and just having a fun time with my co-workers. I'm going to miss it so much. I offered to work one extra week hoping that I'd get to work at where I am now, but I got placed at another site in El Segundo. I went to the new site today so that my regional director could give me a tour and it's the biggest camp this Summer. There's always 100+ kids enrolled compared to the 30-80 max. that we get at Redondo Beach. It's going to be a big change working at a completely new school with a whole new staff, but something just told me to take an extra week and I'm gonna try and make the best of it. This experience has been something that I never thought I would do. I had a feeling that maybe this job with kids would be preparing me for my peds/ob clinical rotation this upcoming year and I was right. My friend texted me today to let me know I was assigned to one of the peds/ob groups. Everything happens for a reason, He is using everything I learn to make me better for some purpose, even if I don't know it yet.
Watching the Olympics lately has been a great reminder that we ALL have greatness within us. It may not win us a Gold medal, but it's still something that we have to strive for. Nothing comes to us without hard work and perseverance. Failure is inevitable, but success is guaranteed for those who push and never give up. And by success, I don't just mean the material things like having a good paying job, a big house, and nice car. I mean developing and nurturing that true sense of purpose in our lives and living that out to the absolute fullest. We can't have everything, but we CAN become more if we get rid of the limits we place on ourselves. I don't ever want to think I CAN'T do something. I don't want anyone to think that. We have to fight for what we want and never let anybody take away our drive to be great. Greatness lives in all of us, friends. Be it and live it.
If you fall pick yourself up off the floor (get up)
And when your bones can't take no more (c'mon)
Just remember what you're here for
Cuz I know Imma damn sure
Give em hell, turn their heads
Gonna live life 'til we're dead.
Give me scars, give me pain
Then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me
There goes the fighter, there goes the fighter
Here comes the fighter
That's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me,
This one's a fighter
