The End of 2015... And a Big Leap

I'm just going to be completely honest: this year has not been the best.

In less words than I have time for this morning, it just wasn't the year I hoped it would be. Granted, I learned a lot this year. I have some amazing memories with my little guy and our family. But here I am on the last day of 2015 and my mind and soul are restless.

A couple of weeks ago, I had this song stuck in my head. It was popular in, like, 2004 I think.

 I've got it all, but I feel so deprived. I go up, I come down, and I'm emptier inside. Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing and why can't I let it go? There's gotta be more to life than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me. Cause the more that I'm tripping out thinking there must be more to life. Well, there's life, but I'm sure there's gotta be something more.

I just took you down memory lane for, right? It's a Stacie Orrico song, a one-hit-wonder kind of thing; she's not even writing music anymore. But I spent days humming that song in my head and finally bought it off iTunes and blared it in my car driving down the highway. And I realized that's definitely how I've been feeling for the past few months... There's gotta be more.

Four (technically just three) years of teaching are in the books, and I am willingly admitting that I'm unhappy with my job, yet again. I love my kids, love talking to them and learning with them, but teaching--planning lessons, dealing with administration, dealing with Common Core, dealing with PARCC, dealing with lots of other things--is not my happy. As a matter of fact, I feel lower in my career than I ever have. It's affecting me at my job, obviously, in my home life, and in my personal life.

I called my mother squawling like a child the Wednesday before school was out for Christmas break.

"I have never been so disappointed in myself or so unhappy in my life!" I cried to her. It was very dramatic.

"Listen to me, listen to me," she said in that motherly voice. "You've got to calm down. Calm down, get a grip, and we can talk."

I finally chilled out and was able to speak calmly. I told her that although I've been complimented numerous times on my teaching strategies and lessons, it didn't override the dozens of times I'd been corrected and told that I need to do this better, change that, fix that, don't do this that way. I was finally admitting that I was just miserable and knew that this was not what I was supposed to be doing.

"I've been praying about it for nearly four years now, Mom," I told her. "I know this is not what God wants me to do."

"Then change something," she said, so I decided to.

I'm returning to work Monday morning with a smile and a good attitude because I'm a team player, and I will do anything to succeed and help my kids reach their goals. However, I will also be informing my boss, an amazing principal, that this will be my last year to teach and that I am looking for work outside of public education.

I don't need to explain myself further, I don't feel the need to justify my decisions. I just know in my heart that this is what I need to do. I am almost finished with my Master's degree in English, and I fully intend to finish it and still have a dream of teaching at the college level (my dream job to begin with), but in the meantime, I've got to figure out exactly what I want to be doing to make my life happier, more fulfilled, more balanced, at this very moment.

Which leads me to the leap.

I began using ItWorks! Products in April of this year, and as most of you who've been reading for a while know, they helped me shed nearly twenty pounds over the summer. I fell in love with the products I used and the way they helped curb my appetite, give me energy, and slim down to become a healthier mom and wife. I began praying about becoming a distributor in the summer and nearly made the leap, but decided not to at last minute. To be honest, I didn't want to be another person selling something on social media.

My results in just SIX DAYS earlier this year!

But I've had more than a handful of people ask me about the products since I used them to help me lose weight, and each time I've thought: This is money I could be making! I am a product of the product--I could sell this stuff because it did work for me!

So yesterday--yes, just yesterday, after another friend contacted me about the products, I signed up to become a distributor on a team with a girl (and a few other women) I personally know and have seen succeed with ItWorks!

Right after signing up, I felt this wave of relief come over me. It was such an exhilarating, refreshing feeling. I had this total feeling of peace... This is what you're supposed to be doing, Kate, I thought to myself. Keep teaching, keep trying your best at school, and that excitement you've lost for the classroom? Push it towards this.

It's all going to work out.

If by now you're rolling your eyes thinking Oh no, not another annoying salesperson, stop those rolling eyes and listen to me. I am a product of the product, and I used to get SO annoyed with ItWorks! people. You have no idea... But then I finally decided to try the products and fell in love. This is my personal promise to you, dear friend and blog reader: I will not be annoying. I will not post fake-sounding ads or unrealistic pictures (sorry, but some of those have got to be doctored by really crazy sales reps), and I will not push my products on you. But trust me, these are products I use and believe in, and I am so happy to become an official ItWorks! Distributor!

Want to be my first customer? Visit my site by clicking here! You'll find my number there where you can text me if you'd like more information!

I think 2016 is going to be a fantastic year. I wish you all a Happy New Year!