Searching for wisdom

 "Start a blog!"

-Adam Welcome

I have been on a journey searching for wisdom. I have been looking for ways to improve both my personal and professional lives. I used to think that those two lives needed to live in separate realms but with time and experience, I learned that it works best for me to properly complement them. I have been tweeting for quite a time masquerading my desire to be a writer via micro-messages that say just a bit of what I would like to talk about.

I struggled with PTSD for most of my life until I decided to do something about it. The turning point that ended the first part of my life and began the 2nd, was an incident that involved fire.

I was driving to the school I lead as a principal when suddenly I was facing a landscaping truck on fire. I noticed right away that a man came out of it literally burning and by chance, I was there to help him. The repercussions of this event catapulted my PTSD to such a level that I wasn't functional and was forced to take a medical leave of absence.

During my time off, my geeky-self developed a plan based on the type of "retreats" that only a few members of society have access to and I did in my home. The one habit that I was able to develop during that month was to completely forgive everyone I needed to forget beginning with myself.

Coupled with my research for my doctoral dissertation on emotional intelligence and school principals, I started to uncover the specific reasons why I was not performing (both personally and professionally) at the level I wanted to. I started to gain the satisfaction in life I was searching for by developing my self-awareness and then doing something about it. Productivity tools like Todoist made the world of difference too!

I am not an end product; al revés: I will always be an unfinished product. For me to properly serve others, I am committed to being at least 1% better every day. If you think about it: it is absolutely possible to become better every year! What about in 5 years? 10?

So this is it! This is my first blog! I was absolutely inspired by Adam Welcome, a principal and presenter from California who's co-leading a PLC group with NAESP. When it was my turn to talk, I said something that went like this:

-Adam, I am here because I also have ideas to share. I would love to write a book, lead professional learning, share with others.

And Adam, in a persuasive way, encouraged us to start a blog or a podcast to extend our outreach as we collectively work to make this world better.

Peace and calm, EM