30 Day Blog Challenge Day 26: What Makes Me Feel Better, Always

It's day 26 of my challenge and today's topic is something that always makes me feel better. No, that's the topic. Something that makes me feel better. There are actually a few answers to this one. So I'll tell you all of the ones I can think of.

First is my relationship with God. I started to say my faith, but that's the beauty of Christianity that makes it different than any other religion. It's actually not a religion or a system of requirements. It's a relationship. All I have to do is acknowledge that I'm sinful and fall short of perfection and accept that Christ died for all my sins. When I'm struggling with my self-worth, all I have to do is remember that the God of all creation loved me enough to do that. Then I feel better.

Second is hugs. If I'm struggling, a good warm hug from a loved one really makes all the difference in the world. On Saturday, I got to see a special young lady who is a former student of mine. She's extremely special to me and I hadn't seen her, for all intents and purposes, since last summer. It felt so good to hug her after not getting to see her for so long (I miss you already Sam). And I have friends at church who just seem to know when I need a hug. A well-timed hug is just the best. It's saying I love you, only with arms instead of words.

Third is music. Specifically, Michael Buble music. If I'm tired or discouraged at school, all I have to do is blast some Buble and I'm feeling good. Actually, "Feelin' Good" is one of my favorites of his. Another that I really like is "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You." It's a cover of the James Taylor tune, but it's a completely different song the way my friend Michael sings it. It's got a real drive to it, like it's being pushed along by a well stoked steam engine. "Stardust Melody" is just like butter it's so smooth. But none of these compare to "Home", which is my favorite song of all time.

Here's Michael singing one of my favorites. I linked "Home" in a previous post, so I chose "Stardust Melody."

So what makes you feel better every time?

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 24: My Best Physical Feature

This amount and thickness of hair
looks so much cuter on a baby than
it does on me. 

I can definitely see the finish line now. Less than a week until my blog challenge is complete. Today's topic is much less uncomfortable than yesterday's but it's not exactly a fun one. It's to tell my best physical feature. Frankly, I don't think I have any great physical features. I've always been heavy except for a few years when I ran seriously, so it's definitely not my physique. I have nearly no hair anymore. I started having my dad's high forehead at a pretty young age, but now all that's on top of my head is little more than downy fuzz. I do have really nice thick hair on the back of my head, though. Speaking of my head, mine looks an awful lot like a balloon. When I have pictures taken with friends or my students, the first thing that strikes me is that my head looks gigantic next to everyone else's.

But I guess I have to come up with something positive to say about myself. I mean, I don't look like a bridge troll, exactly. I have been told that I have attractive eyes. They are blue with little flecks of gold in them.  A number of people have commented on them over the years. So I guess that's a good feature.

But I think my best physical feature is my arms. And I don't mean my arms are super attractive. If I were to wear a tank top, no one would be wowed by my gun show. No, what I mean is that my arms are open. I give really good hugs to the people I love and to people who need them. I try really hard to be compassionate and loving. One of the ways I do that is by being a hugger.

I have had a lot of students whose only experience of a father figure has been a bad one. I try, in my small way, to fill that void for a short while for these kids. One of my students drew a picture of me (it was really quite well done) in which I'm holding a #1 Dad coffee mug. I was puzzled by that and asked why it didn't say #1 teacher. The student's answer made feel really good. He said that he felt like I was the unofficial class dad. I'm not trying to replace these kids' fathers. I'm just trying to show them that there are men who won't leave them or neglect them or abuse them. Men who will listen and cry with them and worry over them and hug them when they need it and, yes, call them to task when they need it, but in a way that doesn't make them feel like nothing. I like to know my students have learned from me, but when I get a note from a student at the end of the year that says he or she felt safe in my room and that I didn't just teach them about literature but about life, I've done my job.

So what's your best physical feature?