Strange Bedfellows

I realized in my last post that I’d fallen into a rut of using the term “Life” in my blogs over the last month or so. I’m glad I’m finally breaking that. And I’m so glad it’s because of this topic.

I’ve been described as “strange” on more than one occasion, probably moreso lately with my continued interest in things such as KPop. (BTW, the Monsta X concert was great for those with seats that allowed you to see the entire stage and screen. Which didn’t include me. That’s all I’ll say on that subject.) I will mention & thank the interesting people I sat with for the time I stayed. In fact, meeting Ryan was one of those random opportunities that make life so much fun. I’m glad we were seatfellows. I wish him and his podcast with Andrea well!

We’re defined, in part, with whom we spend time with.

Today, that time can be spent face-to-face or across vast distances, spanning many time zones. I look at my daily contacts and am in awe. I could never have imagined the network that I have around me today if I was asked to do so even 5 years ago.

Whether I know you via music, education, diabetes, writing, exercise, books, children, family, schools, work, gaming or remotely some other way, you affect me and I am grateful!

Our networks can grow and change daily.

I recently was given the opportunity to write a blog posting titled Dear Teachers: Don’t Forget To Take Care Of Yourselves for TeachThought, whose #Grow17 conference will be running this week in Louisville, KY. I’ve also been contacted to be a possible source for an article for BetterHelp because of a recent posting on my own blog, titled A Good Life. In addition, I’ve had a ton of fun giving out some copies of my book to some amazing educators in the UK and learning more about them and their work. Let’s not forget my new and renewed connections at a family wedding, outlined in Love...And Life!

Most of these connections were made possible through positive social media interactions. Twitter is an especially amazing tool. I never would have met many of these people without today’s channels of communication.

The tiniest things can change a life- yours or someone else’s.

I look back over my life, and I find a series of moments that my life turned on. It could have done so in vastly different ways had I reacted differently to certain people and/or situations. Did I made the right choices? The best choices? I will never know. But my life has evolved to today’s time and place because of these interactions and I have to thank the people and occasions that have led to today.

We all have these powers to affect another person’s life. We need to be mindful of that as we go about our days.

We’re stronger together.

That sentence is gaining more and more meaning to me as I continue to use it. I titled this piece “Strange Bedfellows”, but we’re all bedfellows, in some fashion.

The more we seek to relate to others, the more we can get accomplished. At first look, we may think we have nothing in common with a person we meet. By extending our hand and opening up by sharing a bit of ourselves, we might discover a bond or even create one of those life-turning moments. We’ll never know until we try.

We might not be such strange bedfellows after all.

July is half over! There’s still time to order a copy on Amazon of my guided journal, Dear Teachers, for yourself or special teachers in your life! Dear Teachers makes a great gift of positive encouragement for education professionals- if you are an administrator, principal, youth group leader or home schooler please contact me to discuss its potential to support your staff!

Signed copies and special bulk pricing opportunities are available! Please email me dearteachers2017@gmail.com.