Just go do it!

imported
#1

If you can, JUST DO IT! NOW!

Whats up with me you may ask? I am 55, 10 years from retiring, and feel like I am sinking into a hole. The less I make time to hike the unhealthier I become, so I feel less like hiking. A terrible loop to be stuck in. My job (high school science teacher) is dragging me down. I wish I could get out. I wish I could retire now. I would be on the trail in the morning. Take advantage of your opportuity to thru hike. Accept no other choice. I could have done it years ago but did not “see it”, the opportunity was there. Now I worry it may have passed me by.

Writing this note makes me mad. Maybe mad enough to find a way!

If school is cancelled due to sleet and ice in the morning I’m off to the park for a hike.

SIgh!!

PLEASE…dont end up where I am…JUST DO It!

Harrier - NC

harrier

#2

Come on, stop feeling sorry for yourself. If you can’t do the Trail, it isn’t going anywhere for the next 10 years. I started the Trail at 65 when I retired. I’m going to do it again next year as a present for my 70th birthday.
If you don’t give the trail a try, (as we used to say in the Marines) You’ll be Sorry.

swamp fox

#3

What has age got to do with it? I"m 72 still hiking and will be back on the trail this year,

cowboy

#4

Geez, you act like you’ve been handed a death sentence.

I realize family, mortages, etc…create a lot of pressure but if you’re really that unhappy, you should seriously think about taking a break.

As the great band The BH Surfers said in their song: “It’s better to regret something you’ve done, then something you haven’t done”.

:cheers

Stryker

#5

Your actually better off than most folks your age. You can get some serious hiking in without losing your job. Your a school teacher, so you have summers off. Think about section hiking the trail over several years. You can do it slowly, at your own pace. It might help you get through these last few years on the job. It may even make you a better teacher. Think of the stories you will be able to tell your students! And then when you retire, like Swamp Fox and Cowboy say above, you will have plenty of time to hike all you want. That is what I would do.

Bearski

#6

I too am a high school math teacher turning 54 this spring. I am planning a 23 day hike in Maine and N. H. this summer. Teaching is a great job if you love the outdoors. Take advantage of the time off, recharge your batteries, and both you and your students will be better off! As Bearski said you’ll have great stories. I spent several summers hiking the Alps and the kids loved the stories. You are too young to give up!

Roadrunner

#7

Hi Harrier - Totally understand your plight. Hike, make money, hike, make money? I agree with Bearski. To relieve the pain, start planning a Georgia to Harpers Ferry hike right now. That’s 1009 miles of therapy planning that you don’t have to pay a shrink for. Get your maps, plan your drops, research your gear. Heck, go sleep in your tent outside if it gets really bad - which it may. Hell, sleep in your tent inside if its unbearable. Most of us are current suffers from THSF (Thru-Hiker Spring Fever)…so you’re in good company. Planning a hike is the fastest way to relief and general giddiness when hiking isn’t an option yet.
Now that you have this new mission, go join a health club and start using the treadmill and stairmaster. With every visit you make and every new piece of gear you obtain, the malaise that is engulfing you will start to disapate. (oh, and start using the farthest parking space from the door.)
There - two cents of intervention. ~ Postcard

postcard

#8

Harrier,

I envy your job. You get summers off, thats huge. I’m in that situation were I go on a summer hike and then come back and stramble to find a job that I probably won’t like, I have to work holidays cause I’m the new person, just to pay for the next summer. I’m realizing this isn’t going to work long-term. Even with the summers off if you can’t commit to a multiple month hike, there’s still shorter thru hikes like the LongTrail in VT or the John Muir Trail in the CA high sierra, a most excellent hike! Those two are both in the 2 hundred some miles range and can easily be done in a few weeks. These smaller hikes can help you prepare physically and mentally for a longer thru hike. I’d say go for it and enjoy what your can. There’s always more trail to hike.

banjo boy (hiker miker)

#9

Thanks for all the kind and frank responses.

I was feeling extra down the other night and meant only to stimulate others to get out and JUST DO IT…but I see why and how it has turned into a “HARRIER GO DO IT!”

I was and do feel sorry for myself…living alone, very stressed about my job…but geeez, things have been worse. Spent the last 4-5 years dealing with the addiction of both my sons to D&A. They both pulled themselves out of the gutter and are doing great. I have had some atrial fibrillation episodes the past 12 months but they seem to be connected to bad eating (heartburn).

Its not the age unless one lets age get in the way, and then everything goes downhill. Its a snowball effect and I was feeling like I was rolling downhill.

Students in 2 of my 3 classes are a real challenge. I want out, but I need to stay in for 9 more years. Its my second career and I have nothing from my first career. Damn…cryin again huh… :bawling

OK…Its a process…i know I need to JUST DO IT…i do have summers off, many teachers do not. Cant afford to.

I have LOTS of gear, as my son worked at an outdoor store for 5 years…

I joined a gym last month and they opened last week.

Its FEAR. I am afraid I can’t do 9 more years of teaching, or that if I do it will “kill me”.

Every summer I get out and hike and camp and travel but within 6-8 weeks back to school I am all stressed out again.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place? YES!

I have not gone hiking on locals trails lately becasue I am too pissed off and mad about it all. And alone. …yeah crying again

:bawling

Nice to be able to air this out here…not feel so all alone. I tried to join the Sierra Club on thier weekly hike last week but nobody showed up. :mad

YEah…this really helps. I think I’ll head out in the mornimg for a 4 mile walk.

:cheers

Harrier

harrier

#10

I teach high school science, too, after working as a researcher. Talk about a huge shift! I went from doing tedious lab tasks all day and little human interaction to 100+ bodies in and out of my classroom all day. The pace and workload can be dizzying at times, but I love it. Most days.

What subject do you teach? I personally can’t see myself teaching anything other than science. I love explaining how the world works and processes. My lab exercises are tough but I enjoy interacting with the kids when they do this type of problem-solving.

I have seen teachers “ride out” their years until retirement and use the same old lesson plans. They don’t seem to enjoy it much. Kids pick up their teachers’ moods easily, and any woe-is-me or self-pity or passive-aggressiveness will make for a tough classroom.

If you don’t have a supportive administration, however, 9 more years may be a lost cause and not worth the stress. May be time to find a new school if that’s the case. Does the mere fact that you are in your second career prohibit you from finding something new?

You need to kick this attitude. Your sons recovered from their self-destructive behavior - wake up everyday grateful for that one thing. You recognize the problem that you are not getting out enough; that’s step one. Now make it happen!

I also participate in the teachers.net forums and message boards. They are great, but I use it sparingly and try not to get too caught up in the heated, inconsequential debates. Lots of screen time on the 'net only feeds that negative feedback loop you mention.

Best things to do are to get out and interact with nature, and other people – even just a simple exchange with your cashier at the grocery store, make it a pleasant one. Don’t ever let your own anxiety or angst prevent you from getting out and doing what you need to heal <-- something I’m still working on myself!

Backtrack

#11

I teach an AP Env Sci class, which is great. I teach Earth Science to 9th graders, some of who are 17, 18, and 19 years old. The semester that just ended I had 35% failure rate, as did most other Earth Science teachers , and math teachers, who teach the same kids.

SOME of the these kids are gang members, but most are just apathetic, lost, parentless( alive or dead), or illiterate.
We had two of our 9th graders arrested on separate murder charges in January. In one of the new classes I am getting Tuesday 14 out of the 28 were suspended at least once last semester.

Make no mistake our school, and school system, is working very hard to help these kids, but this is typical of most urban schools.

I am working very hard to prepare myself, to make changes in myself and my methods to help these kids. More out of necessity than true desire. I found some good suggestions at teachers.net forums the other day. But the battle is getting old and I am worn out.

This morning I am headed out in the rain and snow for a hike. Thanks to everyone here for putting that into perspective for me. From past experience I know it will help.

Harrier

harrier

#12

Harrier,

Alright, I admire your stamina in sticking with this. I would be this stressed out, too, in your situation. I feel properly humbled. I teach same subjects, same state, but our schools are probably as different as night and day – mine is a private school with not nearly the discipline problems. Parents are supportive, the majority of kids work hard, and there is a real community feeling. Most of us teachers pledge we wouldn’t want to teach anywhere else.

I still hope you commit to taking care of yourself first and foremost. I just replied to a thread on teachers.net about how to “shut it off” at the end of the day and stop worrying about school issues.

Where in NC are you and where do you like to hike?

Backtrack

Backtrack

#13

I just finally got a teaching job (my area is social studies and is ubercomptitive) and am ELATED that I HAVE time now to hike!
I realize that my students will be challenging, but think about the rewards that come with our position. Spring break, every weekend off, shorter work days, SUMMER break, winter break, Fall break, and MOST IMPORTANTLY: Impacting young lives and helping foster a sense of responsibility in them.
YOU HAVE A DREAM JOB for an outdoor nut… cherish it and realize that there are folks out there in the 8-5 workday who would give their right arm to be able to have about 3 months of break a year to be in the great outdoors.
I know, I just finished 4 years of doing the random, no outdoor time schedule with different jobs and am already thinking of doing a spring break trip to Georgia to section hike the GA-NC part of the AT with my husband (if he can get out of his 9-5 job :wink: )
Peace and prayers,
windex

windex

#14

Windex,

Have you actually started that teaching job yet? The idea that there is mountains of “time off” is a common misconception.

Teaching is hard-&%$ work. During the school day, you have your classes, meetings, committees, administrative paperwork, supply ordering, student tutoring, parent calls & emails, and then on top of it all, you need time to prepare your lessons and grade. I frequently work 10-12 hour days, and a chunk of time on Sundays. I mention all this because I thought the same going into it. I wanted a “challenge and time off” when I started, and to “make a difference.” THAT was the understatement of the year.

It IS an improvement over most jobs I’ve had in the past. But, I feel I work just as hard as anyone else with a 9-5, two-weeks vacation-a-year job – it is just more compressed. Most teachers I know are this way. A few I know manage to pull off being in and out the school door on a 7a-3pm schedule, but not without selling out their work ethic.

Congratulations nonetheless – social studies IS probably the most competitive curriculum out there. Teaching does work well if you love the outdoors, but the idea that it will yield you a stress-free life with lots of leisure time is a lie.

Backtrack

#15

I have been a teacher for 4 years in my own classroom. Substituted for about 2 and a half. It is all about how hard you make it. I am really good at time management and rarely have taken work home. I grade everything during prep time and lunch (or while other students are taking tests). I still say it is far better than 9-5… having experience now in both.
Thanks for the concern… everyone has a different experience. I wasn’t trying to make the profession seem easy… just trying to point out the benefits of the job for an outdoor person. :slight_smile:

windex

#16

Oh… and all but one of my years of teaching experience was with at-risk urban youth. And that is what I am going into here in the new job.
Social Studies is different than science as well… I taught one year of middle school science. I spend a lot of time on projects and discussion and writing.

windex

#17

On internet and email, I often pick up a tone from the writing and just “go with it.” What I read in your original post just sounded an awful lot like my naivity and optimism before I began teaching.

Sorry for my assumptions! There is much “lost in translation” when you’re not interacting with someone verbally, or face-to-face.

Backtrack