Oh, to be young again...

Or not. Would I be young again, and need to learn again, or would I stay here, today, where at least I have some experience behind me?

I think I will stay in today. In now.

As a teacher, I get to spend my work days with people whose lives are just beginning. I ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I laugh when I say it, because while the 17 year olds think I'm being serious, the 35 year olds think I'm crazy. "Yes, when you grow up." I tell them that I have not yet decided what I want to be when I grow up. I've been a teacher for 18 years, but I might change my mind about what I want to BE before I grow up, which I might even get around to doing someday. Maybe I'll write, maybe I'll draw, who knows?

So what do you want to be? I get to live vicariously through my students. A journalist (I follow his new blog - check it out), a chef, a carpet layer, nurses, child care workers, a lawyer, an accountant... Sadly, no one wants to be a pirate or a rock star or a dramatic actress, or at least they haven't shared those dreams with me. That would be fun. I would get calls from backstage, NYC or from the middle of the Red Sea. "Shelly, what should I do? Stay with the band or do the solo album?!"

For now, I will have to settle into my role as guide for the ones who are brave enough to come to school, to speak their dreams aloud, to take a chance. I wish I had experienced all the things they are trying to do so I could give them advice. As it turns out, one good path to a career in journalism may really be to start a blog and see if people read it. Good luck John! And thank you, Teddie, for the advice.

What else do I need to learn so I can help these people achieve their dreams? Maybe tomorrow I'll know. Surely, yesterday I knew less than I know today. No, I will stay here, in my NOW, so that I can, from my comfy chair, watch my students as they venture into the future.