Yearly Theme - Take 1

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Yearly Theme

Every year, I try to come up to a theme that will be my focus for the year.  It sits beside my computer where I can see it every day.  Here's last year's theme:

I will admit that I love the quote above, but it wasn't a very good theme for me.  It wasn't specific enough to really push me while planning lessons or grading papers.  As a result, I really wanted something different this year.  There are 2 that are the current top contenders.

The first one was sent to me via Pinterest by a good friend.  She knew I was on the hunt for a theme, so this was one of her suggestions.  The actual quote was phrased a smidge differently and had an attribution, but I couldn't verify that author, so I left it as "author unknown"...

I really like this one because it reminds me that the status quo isn't quite where I want to be.  I want to change my 10% (a la #TMC16).  This quote applies to lessons, to grading, to relationships, and so much more.

The second quote is based from the Choosing Joy devotional that @pamjwilson and I have started.  It is a 52 week word study on the word "Joy".  

This theme has popped up several times this summer in the books I've read, the bible studies I've done, and while I'm not always the best listener, if I hear something over and over, I know that it's something to be taken seriously! :)  This verse reminds me that it's MY choice on how to react and it's MY choice to be joyful (or not).  Our daily announcements end with this quote:  Make it a great day or not - the choice is yours!  I need to choose joy!

Many thanks to Sadie for the following tweet that prompted this post:

Isn't that the coolest?  Why wouldn't we want to choose joy?  Why wouldn't we want to make progress?  We have the most powerful, most influential profession out there behind parenthood... wow! That's just awesome!  Thank you Sadie for reminding me to focus on the kids!  Thank you for your enthusiasm for teaching, no matter what!

(And if you have any other ideas for my mantra, please feel free to leave it in the comments below!)