Work, Gratefulness, and Life
This year has so far been a year of gratitude. Life has been a good rhythm of hanging out with family, friends, and success at work.
However, three former students have recently reached out to me to say thanks for things I did long ago. One was in December of 2023 when a student I haven’t really talked to even since she graaduated high school in 2011 or so put a large social media post about how she’s going to do a 70.3 Ironman race this year! I believe she did a duathlon at the end of last year and we talked about bikes etc but this is a big step. She’s also fundraising for scholarships to give other youth the opportunities she had when she was in high school. (I’ve donated — perhaps you can too!)
Then a student whom I am in weekly contact with still and I consider one of my best friends sent me a reminder of how the triathlon club would go camping and often do things like having s’mores, which many of the students had never done before. Camping is expensive when you have to get all the stuff for it! Tent, sleeping bag, portable burners etc. He went on to say he had just had s’mores with his kids at home and they loved it… to this day the smell of a campfire brings up great memories hanging out, doing cool triathlons, and good times when things were more simple. So of course I made sure my kids had the experience Sunday night in our backyard!
Finally, this week a student who is going through some things in life called me — he also graduated in 2011 but we’d stayed in touch for a few years afterwards as he volunteered etc. He encouraged me as I mostly just listened to what he’s going through and offered encouragement. It’s interesting, because before I had these kinds of conversations frequently, and was often in a position to offer advice. All of these former students are now older (30+) than I was when I was last in regular contact with them.
To the former student, he was talking about how much more simple life was in high school… get through school, play water polo, triathlons and trips on the weekend, hang out with frieds. Then high school ends and you realize your parents are people with their own struggles, and now you’re on your own.
I’ve always found the book of Ecclesiastes to be a huge encouragement despite it’s somewhat pessimistic tone. Specifically from chapter 2, verses 4–6
“ I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”
I am often pulled in by wanting business or family success* (eg ‘what? The kids room is messy after they just cleaned it?!’) instead of being content with who God has made me to be. Similarly, I’m often content to ‘be’ instead of striving towards what God intended me to be. But this post is a declaration that… I need to always be striving to be the best ‘me’ for myself, my spouse, my kids, my friends and the world that I need to be (in that order).
