The other thing I did not want to become besides a 'stay-at-home' housewife was a teacher. I often wondered where they found motivation to get up every day and follow the routine of preparing their students to be greater than them. School for me was just a place I needed to breeze through on my way to the real world and I felt rather sorry for teachers who had to keep going to school for the rest of their working life. Looking back I marvel at their patience as they prepared us for the future. Many of them served until retirement, content with an unglamorous, low paying job and simply happy with imparting skills so that others might have a successful life. I could not shake off what one teacher advised my class before releasing us into the world. "Try not to make your first home in a 'boys-quarters' because if you get comfortable in a one-room home you are likely to think that you have reached your full potential when you move into quarters with only two rooms." He was simply telling us to reach for the stars, to aim as high as possible and not to put undue limits on our potential. I understood that he used the one-room home as a metaphor, but once I finally had my own income and went house hunting, studio apartments were not an option.
At 50 I know that sometimes role models and mentors enter and leave our lives unannounced. They capture our imagination and influence our dreams whilst going about their modest jobs - without even trying.
feeling grateful.
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