Life’s Whispers

It funny when my husband says, “Do you hear that?  It’s life whispering to you.”  OK.  He is making fun of Oprah’s Life Class but I go back to the idea that everything happens for a reason.  Maybe… my husband mocks Oprah to remind me of Life’s Whispers.  Life’s whispers are subtle hints or clues as to what’s happening, what direction to take, or what needs to be re-evaluated.  In terms of my academic/professional realm of my life, I’ve been fielding life’s whispers here and there.  The question is… when life is whispering, what do you do?  You can ignore them or acknowledge them.  Not knowingly, I have ignored many “nods” in my past life.  Looking back, I had several “nods” from administrators to move forward.  At the time, I didn’t get it so I never moved forwards.  Don’t ask.  I need to be told face-to-face.  This would defeat the purpose of the “nod.”  That’s another blog entry…

For the past few days, I have been “Fielding Compliments.”  I wrote about this in a blog entry a few days ago and I am still curious.  I don’t want my head to superficially inflate but I wonder if I am suppose to receive a life’s whisper to move forwards.  Obviously I’m not getting the message… “compliments” continue to persist.  For example, a colleague told me the other day over coffee that she thought I was a “master teacher.”  Another example, a parent of one of my tutoring clientele after our first session called me a “student whisperer.”  Let’s take it further, a client today commented to a community member looking for math tutoring during our session that I was “pretty great.”  All three compliments shocked me.  I was taken aback.  This is only a sample of what I have experienced over the past few days.  It is apparent to me that people in my community respect my ability to teach mathematics.  It feels great!  But, what are all these compliments or “whispers” trying to tell me?  Once again, I am not sure.  I could easily second guess my life choices and “should” myself to have maintained the status quo of “not knowing.”  Or, I could be thankful to hear these “compliments,” be aware of potential “nods,” and maybe I’ll recognize them to move forwards.  We’ll soon see.