Having just finished counting the money and placing our latest classroom book order, I am dismayed to see how ordering junk has overtaken ordering books.  I wish I knew the magic spell that would open  my students’ and their parents’ eyes to see that books provide hours upon hours of fun, excitement, and adventures that can take them anywhere they want to go over and over again unlike those tiny trinkets that will quickly be tossed away, they so willingly spend their money on.

Ahhh, human nature.  We want what we want, the shinier… bigger… brighter… tastier… the better!  Money isn’t the only thing I have counted today.  I am also counting my Weight Watcher points.  I am just like the children with their book orders!  I don’t want the good foods that will provide me health, low cholesterol, and long life!  No!  I want those tiny (or not so tiny)  yummy…gooey….fat-filled  morsels I believe I can’t live without.  When will I open my eyes to see that eating healthy is not depriving myself of anything, but rather the way I was always designed to eat?

So it goes in life.  We all need a magic spell to open our eyes to the choices we make each day.  Will it be choosing to open our minds and imaginations to new people and places?  Will it be choosing to open our mouths to foods that will improve our health? Or will it be choosing to open our hearts and recognize all the possibilities there are to help make a difference to those around us?  I hope it is the last because  when it is all said and done, counting on each other, is what makes this adventure called life worth reading over and over again!