Moving Into Ease

I am used to having to work hard to make things happen.  Imagine my surprise when some opportunities showed up out of the blue.

When I left my job as a special education teacher, I thought about different ways to bring in an income stream to cover some of my non-discretionary bills.  I thought I might work part-time shopping and delivering groceries. Little did I know how stressful that would be. After one day of trying it out, I decided it wasn’t for me.  I was proud of myself for recognizing that it wasn’t a good fit.

I was considering tutoring online when a few opportunities showed up that were a better fit. 

First, a family friend who is Director of Operations of a Montessori School was sharing with my mom that she had four teachers out sick and not enough subs to cover the school needs.  My mom asked her to hold on and called me into the room she was in. “Would you consider subbing at a Montessori School?” she asked.

After leaving my teaching job, I wasn’t sure if I would ever work in a school again.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I’ve been interested in Montessori schools for a long time but never really considered working for one.  

With some hesitation, I said yes.

I went in to fill out paperwork and asked to observe a class.  I was intrigued by the students’ engagement in self-directed learning.  A few hours later, I received a text message asking me if I would consider working at the school part-time as a teacher assistant in addition to subbing.  After giving it some thought, I agreed.

A few days later, an opportunity came up to tutor someone who was studying for the EMT exam.  I wasn’t sure I could do it because I didn’t know anything about the EMT exam. My mom reminded me that not only was I a teacher but that I had been a certified Wilderness First Responder so I did know quite a bit about what an EMT exam might cover.  She also reminded me that I could easily teach someone how to study for an exam because I had lots of experience doing that.  

I thought about it and felt into it to decide whether that might be a good fit for me.  I said yes and my first day of tutoring begins later this week.  

Then, I took my sister to her day program at the Soul Studio, an art studio for people with disabilities because her caregiver needed to go to urgent care to check something out.  While I was there, I noticed one of the staff members was there with his two young twin daughters. He shared with me that they both had juvenile diabetes. He had seen me checking my sister’s blood glucose and entering information into her insulin pump and asked me a few questions.  I didn’t realize he was checking out my knowledge about managing diabetes.  

On my way out of the studio, he stopped me and asked whether I would be interested in child care for his daughters in the event their child care wasn’t available.  I thought about it for about a minute and said I was very interested if I was available.  

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could actually be competent using my skills and experience.  

I thought about how easily all of these opportunities came in and what contributed to that.  Have there been opportunities all along that were a good fit for me and I just didn’t see them?  What was different now?

The only thing I can contribute this to is the healing work I’ve done and the daily practices I’ve been doing.  

And to being less stressed.