If I may take the soap box for a second...

Flying in the face of all those self-help books that advise that you live each moment as if it were your last, live for today, be in the moment... let me add my own somewhat contradictory advice.

Plan for the future today

Finding the best fit for today is not always a smart idea.
Talking to my associate about my disappointment in my job rejection, she advised me that it was likely that particular school did not currently want to spend the time required to train a new teacher (we are legally required to have more time during the school day without our students). If new teachers are not able to find positions, it is likely that more young teachers will simply choose to leave the profession and search for other jobs. Ten years from now, you have no teachers of our generation to fill the ranks of experiences as other seasoned teaches retire or take sabbaticals.
If you focus too much on fulfilling all your wants and whims right now, what are you missing out on in the future? Do we truly contemplate the "opportunity cost" of the decisions we make everyday? Let me know in the comments.

2 comments:

  1. I ALWAYS think about the future! Sometimes though, it can be to my own detriment, and people often remind me to ''live in the moment'' - because I'm so bad at it. I'm not sure why, but I can't help it: with every decision I make, I always weigh up whether or not it's something that I'm going to regret later or the impact that it's going to create, and while this is helpful in some areas, it can be negative as well.. once I tick off one goal or accomplish something, I'm always in a rush to do another thing, without properly savouring the beauty of now.

    Thanks for the thought-provoking article :)

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  2. mmm maybe
    sounds like a good way to convince yourself they made a mistake :)

    teaching isn't the only profession to be risk adverse when developing it's junior staff.

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