Never Missing Out

Every year, people make New  Year’s resolutions. I am no exception. Generally, I make some resolution involving losing weight or getting more exercise before summer although that is as much for the benefit of the people who have to look at me as anything else (I don’t have to look at myself).  Anyway, this year I made a different type of resolution. I have decided not to miss out on ANYTHING that comes my way, just because I’m afraid of failing or getting hurt. This goes for my career, friendships, love life, etc. 

I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist and I don’t like to fail. As a result, I haven’t been much of a risk taker in most areas of my life. If I take a risk, I could fail, and I do NOT like to fail. So, I’ve stayed kind of inside a safe little bubble, where everything is just normal. Not exciting, just normal. Until last year… When I moved back to Minnesota, it was a huge risk for me, but it is the best decision I’ve ever made, which is part of what lead me to this resolution. I missed out on things for a long time, but I won’t do that anymore!

I’ve already alluded to a huge business opportunity in my future, but I won’t elaborate on that until it comes to fruition. However, I will share my dating approach, when it comes to this rule. In the last month or so (since I got out of the online dating world), I’ve been told by the men I’ve gone on dates with that I’m hard to read. Generally they do this via text message, because they have asked me on a second date, and they can’t tell if I’m interested. Here’s the thing…If I’m interested, it is VERY clear. If I’m not interested in someone romantically, I’m still nice, so I imagine I am hard to read in that situation. That could be due to the fact that I’ve met more than my share of creepers and clingers in recent months, and I’ve learned to keep people at a distance for awhile. But that’s beside the point. I’ve had little to no connection with the men I’ve met in the last month, so they weren’t worth the risk.  

I have a good friend who tells me frequently that he’s non-committal, because he’s been hurt twice since his divorce. It’s easier not to get attached, because if he tries again, he could get hurt again. He can introduce women to his daughter as his friends. But going beyond friendship has been too much for him, because he doesn’t have control over what will happen down the line. Ultimately, though, he does want to settle down again. We’ve talked about this several times. And what do you know…he finally took the leap and committed to a woman (one who had previously hurt him, actually), and he’s as happy as can be. We’ve all been hurt. Everybody has been burned, including me. It has made me nervous that I won’t take the risk that I should with the right guy. But that’s what this year is about for me. Being willing to go with it, and take a chance, if I think it’s worth it. So if I start posting stories about taking risks and making out-of-character decisions, such as signing up for a Tough Mudder (no idea what I’ve gotten myself into), don’t be surprised!

Okay, time for a short teacher reference. I’m not actually going to tell you a story today. I’m just going to describe my 5^th grade classroom, when I was in my second year of teaching. This is the group we referred to as The Misfits. One of my co-workers once saw me interacting with this group and just said, "Lindsey, you're going to heaven." Maybe that's an indicator of the craziness of my class. First of all, I had 4 students who were 12 or 13 years old…in 5^th grade. That made for an interesting dynamic. I had Alex, the boy who laid outside the portable wearing a million layers, along with a pathological liar (he had stories for days, about going to Egypt, being born in Italy, having cousins who were princes, etc.), and  two…not one but TWO, students who were missing an arm. I also had a girl we called The Mom, because she looked older than me (one of the teachers actually asked her to sign her child in at the office….whoops!), an INCREDIBLE artist, an albino African-American student (imagine my surprise walking to the line to meet my new student…total shock! I loved him immediately), and a kid who brought me brownies every day at lunch while I was pregnant so the baby would come out all cute and chubby (he was successful).  Hmmm….who were the other stand outs? I guess I would say the girl who came during the middle of the year, with rocker hair, fishnet tights and corsets (yes, in 5^th grade). She showed up with a tongue ring one day, and I about lost it when I called her mom and found out she’d had permission to get it! There were other kids, too, all of them full of spunk and personality. I would say about 95% of the teachers hated my class. They were AWFUL in specials. But I loved them, and we had a great year in the land of The Misfits.