Well it's Saturday

And guess what? It's raining. But it has cut back to a drizzle now. Just enough to keep the sky dark, and keep me from doing my laundry. But I have a heater now, so I can hang clothes indoors.

I am at school. Yes, even on my day off, I came up the 6000 steps. I am here because I have to post some comments on the Glasser book. I also had an appointment to talk to a friend on Yahoo, but that may be cancelled. Something like that used to make me really mad. And honestly today, I wasn't too pleased, but I instantly laughed it off. One; because I got an email warning me of the reason of the possible cancellation, and two; because I have been there myself. Many a times. And hey, things come up.

On my walk with Oscar this morning I got to thinking about the quality of life most people have in this world. I thought about how diligent I am about keeping Oscar clean, feeding him and walking him on time, and giving him lots of play time, and not too much alone time. I realized I was a good mommy, and should I ever have kids, I will give the same attention to them and more (because they will cry), as I do to Oscar. And this would not be because I am a better person, or more caring, though I am sure that is true in some cases. But I think it is mostly because I have the means. For my current situation and location, I make a good salary. Five times the average salary here in fact. I have a free apartment, and I work relatively short hours. I organize my life well, and I make time for the important things. Most people are not that lucky and I don't have to look very far to see those people. In fact, not only do I have a better quality of life than over 50% (possibly much more) of the population of the world, but so does Oscar.

This got me thinking about something else that has been becoming very apparent in my way of thinking- mainly about my own future.

My life-goals have completely shifted. I used to want to be great. I mean, great in an international sense; like Jane Goodall, work for WWF, Greenpeace etc. I dreamed of doing humanitarian work (and still do from time to time). But today, I realized that I am not thinking along those lines any more. And why? Probably because I am happy doing what I am doing. I am teaching the importance of these very same things through my lessons, and my attitude. I am shaping these minds, however slightly.

Now I have no illusions of grandeur. I am not a goddess (some would argue), nor do I think my influence on these kids will be life-altering in every case, but it might be in one or two. Or I may just plant a seed that they will nurture, and make the right decisions down the road. Unfortunately there is no way of gauging these things, unless a student comes to me after many years, and tells me "It was because of YOU that I did this", as I did with Philip Stanbury.

But I think my conclusion is this. Now that I am in an environment where I am not an alien, where I seem to fit in and I am comfortable, I seem to be able to work these things in naturally. Also I am more confident in teaching, I allow myself to make connections with the students, and vice versa, and this also brings out the best in me. I no longer need to be Mother Teresa. I am happy teaching others to be just a little more careful about the every day things they do. All I can hope for and work on, is an cumulative effect.