Aiming for 10% Happier

The start of the school year is an energizing, renewing time of year.  Few moments are as full of promise as standing at the door greeting students on the first day; all that potential energy, all the cool kiddos to get to know, all the highs and lows of our time together still ahead of us.

To get to the excitement of the first school day, I have to move through the fog created by three days of professional development. At the close of the third day of professional development, I left the building nearly in tears, my mind swirling feverishly. How in the world was I going to teach English (which brings with it these days its own rearrangement of thinking and practice), AND be a career counselor, reading specialist, special educator, ELL teacher, and a mindfulness resource for my students?  How could I possibly stack up against my colleagues who know their content brilliantly, have the right strategies always at the ready, who practice the latest research, and who know their students on the first day?

Enter the book 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing my Edge, and Found Self-Help that Actually Works -- a True Story by Dan Harris, a book recommended to me by my friend and extraordinary teacher, Ashlee Kuhry-Larsen.

Dan Harris, the author and narrator of the audiobook, is an ABC news correspondent and weekend anchor on Good Morning America.  Harris had a spectacular public panic attack on air in 2004, an event which sparked a journey of self-discovery.  As he searched for something to alleviate the anxiety, he tried illegal drugs, talk therapy, and eventually, meditation.  The meditation is what worked.

Harris is at times hilarious as he narrates his journey to become more meditative and mindful.  At one point he finds himself at a ten day meditation retreat, and he is struggling. He recites for the audience the thoughts in his head as he is supposed to be meditating, including thoughts about the pain in his feet, the noise of the birds, and, most randomly, the origin of the sneeze guard at buffet lines.  The honesty of his challenges is refreshing and makes the lessons of book even more applicable.

Throughout the book, Harris acknowledges that he continues to learn what it means to be mindful. He seeks and shares the words of experts -- pop culture guru Deepak Chopra, guided meditation expert Joseph Goldstein, and ancient Buddhist writings -- in his quest to better understand his own mind and heart. He recognizes and embraces the dichotomy of living serenely and with acceptance and yet with ambition and drive.

This book sparked in me in a desire to explore mindfulness more fully.  As a practice, it seems to have potential to quell the fears that caused me such anxiety at the end of the professional development, fears that I'm sure will reassert themselves regularly throughout the year.  I'm making it a goal this year to learn more about and attempt to practice mindfulness and meditation.

To start working on my goal, I picked up another book as a follow up, one that, based on the title, I assume will address mindfulness with a delightful amount of irreverence.  I've only just begun The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson and already I am on board with his philosophy which seems to be:  figure out what's important and spend your time and energy on that.  That is exactly what I intend to do as the school year starts.

What I'm going to focus on -- give a f*ck about, if you will -- is the relationships I will build with my students starting on day one.  It is those relationships that will allow us to work together to learn and grow, to celebrate and to struggle, and to maintain the energy generated on day one throughout the year.