BLOCK Grants

Wow!  Turns out that I am someone who thrives on blocking out my minutes & interests.  Who knew?  

Sheez - here, was always a true believer as myself as an "inspired winger."  That's how master teacher Yorvar Synnestvedt described me waaay back in my long ago days as a middle school educator.  It was certainly the image I held of myself. 

Plans were for schmucks, thinking ahead for boring closet bureaucrats. 
Those were the messages I processed in my early years & held as gospel for decades, even when my true self was screaming into my inner ears that structure provide a framework for freedom, for liberating my best efforts.

Reality - I now look forward with glee to the time that I know, "This is Thursday - this morning I will pace myself through my a.m. ritual, get a couple hours in writing, see one or two clients* in the afternoon and/or evening, do (fill in the blank) yard- and/or house-work, spend 30 minutes unstructured time online, enjoy an hour with John watching something online or part of a dvd, get to bed at a decent hour & up (even in the depths of cold, dark winter) again tomorrow at my preferred wake-up time of between 5:00 & 5:15 a.m."

Back in my days at Bryn Athyn Elementary School, then in the corporate world & in my early years at Delaware Valley High School, there were plenty of times that I was fairly or even spectacularly successful - but they came about in spite of my process, not as an anticipated outcome.  Was I always actually this way, this think-ahead blocks-of-time, think-of-moments-rather-than-minutes person ~OR~ did this self evolve as I aged & have fewer moments at my disposal?  Took me until this very moment to realize that my first experience of the liberating quality of blocking moments & activities happened in my last year at DVHS (a notoriously lax school for at-risk students, where my seat-of-the-pants approach served me well for my first years, getting familiar with the kids & courses), where I brought crowning success & closure to my teaching career because of finally fully utilizing the charming custom of lesson plans & study guides.  What a concept!

Over seven years since my last class at DVHS, the years are ticking by.  And I mean to make them count.  Over the past five years, I've discovered - only because it was pointed out to me - that I'm rather innovative.  For years, have adopted "Saved all my best lines for my 3rd act."  Well, here I be, with the 3rd act curtain up & myself center stage.  Let's make the most of it!

It helps that I've discovered that, along with being innovative, I am significantly more likely to do things when I know their why.  Take a walk around the block soon after I wake up is not likely to find me pulling on my socks & walking shoes; "get your heart rate up early in the a.m." IS.  "Take a break every 30 minutes" from your writing routine hasn't lit my fire but knowing that prolonged sitting is as deadly as chain smoking is good reason to get up & get OUT.

Turns out there's a lot of good to be had out of being a BLOCK HEAD, using blocks of time & activities as stepping stones to a brilliant tomorrow & a wildly fabulous future.  It is seriously cool to be 65 years old, getting to know a true self really well, partnering with her, guided by the sure knowledge that plans are treasure maps & thinking ahead is a hallmark of chronic accomplishment!