Just do it #11: No "to dos" for 72 hours

Every summer, I make a long "to do" list. I figure with two+ months off from teaching, I can become a greener, fitter, more organized, happier person. This year's is ridiculously long. In fact, it's so mammoth that it could spank any others I've ever written. You see, I was feeling lost, exhausted, unappreciated, and bored at the end of this school year. While I never "phoned in" my teaching, every time a student whined, "Why can't we pick our own seats?" or a colleague bitched "Why do we have paper limits?!", I cringed... and died a little inside.

Yes, I know, that's as melodramatic a statement as the eighth graders I teach, but bottom line: I was down.

My usual solution to feeling upset it to try to "think" my way out of it. I plan, come up with options, and, of course, make lists. The first item on this summer's to do list?

#1- Soul search about my profession

Yes, this lofty goal was on the same list as "make homemade ice cream", "find another cute sundress" and "organize attic". In the words of Sesame Street: which one isn't like the other? And this strategy didn't work anyway. The more I ruminated about my job, the more lost I felt.

Then, Dan and I got away to Ocracoke Island this weekend. And for 72 hours, I shelved the damn list.

For 72 hours, Dan and I went without answering our phones, checking e-mail, watching television, or getting a "to do" list item done.

We stayed at a shabby, adorable B&B for $70 a night:



What was on our rigorous agenda?

Well, here's how we got around absolutely everywhere:

To see things like this:

and this:

where we judged sand sculptures like these:


We drank here:

read books side by side here:

checked out side streets:

checked out the parade:

watched this:


all while feeling like this:

Incidentally, I had picked up a book on happiness and career searching and read it on the front porch of that B&B. An entire chapter was about how trying to "think" yourself out of feeling lost doesn't usually work. How getting away can help. And having faith. With all that bike riding and reading and ice cream eating and hanging with Dan, I remembered several reasons why I like my job, namely that I do have a two month break every year.

Being a hopeless list-aholic, I decided to make this one of my "just do it" challenges, although I suppose it's not really one. So, I got away to the beach for a weekend! Big deal. I didn't really solve anything.

But that's okay.