Today was a lot. I was in for a full day of work and then facilitating after-school professional development. I am always a little nervous when I’m going to present. It’s not because I’m not confident about the content, I always put in the work, meaning, I study and prepare. I get nervous because I really want it to be a great experience for everyone. So, I started the day off right – for me – I made time for breakfast before I left the house.

I packed my lunch carefully. Today there would be no almonds with lunch because I had granola for breakfast. I was going to reserve the apple and the cheese stick for the afternoon. I had a well-thought-out plan. Go me!

The day was going good, beginning with a morning meeting, and teaching – by 11:45 am I was famished. I looked around my desk – no lunch. In my haste to get to school, I must have left it in my car. That was not the case, there was no lunch. I left it at home. I felt overwhelmed, my plan was trashed. Now what?

I went to the deli and bought a small chili, a banana, and a bag of pretzels. I was short on time, and I made hasty choices. Then came the candy. Feeling stressed, I ate two hefty handfuls of candy from the bag set aside for professional development. Instead of having a flexible approach, I fell back into a fixed response. Afterward, I thought, “Well, that sucks.”

By the time the day was over, I was home and it was time for dinner. Today felt like a failure. We went to Chick-fil-A – I got a grilled chicken sandwich and fries. My husband’s meal included the chocolate shake ( I wanted that too – but I didn’t get one ). So there was a bit of redemption.

Today can be a blip in an otherwise strong start back to being on plan or it can be the end of that start and I can kick the can down the road. Will I have a flexible approach or a fixed one? I’m still here, blogging to stay true to my goal. It’s a blip, and I am going to keep trying.