Friday, November 18, 2011

When Things Fall Into Place...


I don't want to give myself the evil eye, but I'm just so happy right now and can't help express it. I know there are people who have it worse, but I have had a challenging past few years and have worked really hard to change that and this is one of the first times I really feel like I am in a great place. I know without some struggle success wouldn't feel as gratifying, and I am humbled by my experiences that have brought me to this place. I feel very blessed and thankful for the opportunities and acknowledgments I have gotten. I am so content in this moment right now. I love my family, I love my friends, I love my work, and I love my education and the leadership positions it has set me up with. These are the things that fulfill me at the end of the day and I finally feel like they are all in good places for me and I couldn't be happier.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Finding the Connection

Since this year has already been a lot of change, I thought it was a good time to get a new job. I stumbled into a job working for a temple of all places. I was the kid who always ditched religious school, so when I was offered the job, I thought it was the universe playing a sick joke on me. I thought they would offer me an internship working in their office and with the staff, of all things they offered me a job teaching hebrew school, the class I despised the most of all as a teenager. As I was trying to find a way to politely turn them down, they then offered me a paid internship on top of teaching. I decided to give it a shot, it couldn't be any worse than retail. The more time I spent working the more I started to like it. New York is a big city, and it can get a bit lonely at times, being a part of a community has been a really nice addition to my week. Don't get me wrong, I've still got a lot of learning to do before I become a great teacher, but my kids are fun and they are learning with me. On the weekends I help out with events and its more of my sociological internship aspect of my job, I get to talk to the members and the staff and get feedback, see what keeps the place going on a day to day basis and what I can do to make it better. Some of my students come to my events and services with their families, which makes me feel like I did something right that week in class. I feel appreciated for my work and very much welcomed into the family and I didn't realize how much I was missing that piece of my life until I got it back. It has nothing to do with religion, because I don't find myself to be a religious person, I happen to feel more of a connection to my spirituality. Its all part of finding a balance for me, which I know is part of most people's lifelong goals, as it is for me, but has been a highlighted recently for me as something I should focus more on prioritizing.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011


As I go through all kinds of feelings and experiences in my journey through life -- delight, surprise, chagrin, dismay -- I hold this question as a guiding light: "What do I really need right now to be happy?" What I come to over and over again is that only qualities as vast and deep as love, connection and kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way.

-Sharon Salzberg