This Opportunity Comes Once in a Lifetime, Yo

After 20 years in the classroom and 8 years in college studying English Literature, I have had the opportunity to read some of the greatest works ever written. There are lines from T.S. Eliot's poetry that float to the forefront of my memory on a daily basis. I have recalibrated my views on life, death, existence, and philosophy with every book, poem, and play that I have read. Yet, the catch-22 of being an "English Teacher" is that everyone expects you speak using only perfect grammar, to have read every book, to not necessarily be moved to tears over the lyrics of a rap song, or to include a quote from a pop-culture movie into your life philosophy. 


Well, despite my love of Shakespeare and Dante, Dickinson, and Hughes, the words of a modern day poet-philosopher are often what I turn to when I have to face hard decisions:

"...the moment,
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance...
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime..."

You own it, you better never let it go,

Eminem. A poet. A philosopher. A man who has embedded into his angst, unorthodox ideas, and even vitriol into solid, aphoristic advice. You don't have to like him. You don't have to agree with him. But let's not deny that putting a beat behind "Opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo" is a pure and straightforward way to tell us to seize the day. After twenty years in the classroom and eight years in college studying English Literature, I am not afraid to admit that I have made monumental life decisions with the words of Winona Ryder, Zach Braff, and Ethan Hawke at my back. I have replayed lyrics from the Beastie Boys and Bad Religion, along with Eminem in my head while combatting anxiety and fear. Words are powerful and underestimating them just because of where they come from can be tragic.

Call it what you will, I take inspiration from words, no matter where they come from. Words have enraged me, enlightened me, encouraged me. They inch their way into corners of my brain and make a home there, ready to emerge when I need them.

At this crossroad in my life, I have sailed past my 40th year, have welcomed thousands of students through my classroom door, and have denied myself opportunity more than once in the name of being a teacher. I love what I do. Teaching has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life, yet I know that my passion for education can still exist, even if I am not physically in a classroom every day. This by no means, means I'm turning in my white board markers and collecting my gold plated pencil, it just means, that when opportunity knocks, this time I will answer the door. 

So I sit here, "owning it", "not missing my chance",  trying not to miss this "once in a lifetime opportunity." What will it mean for me, my future, my happiness? Who really knows. Like a too often cryptic social media post, I will not divulge the who, the what, the when. I will simply state that #thisteachersjourney has been a winding road, sometimes with unexpected bumps, but I am finally starting to feel that I have both hands on the wheel.

It may have taken almost 20 years for me to figure out that I have spent the better portion of my life surrounded by words of wisdom urging me to move "against the grain"  to laugh at myself, or " life is going to seem a whole lot longer", that "I am not under any orders to make the world a better place." But if I don't , "Well, then, what good [am I]"? At just the right moment, I heard just the right song, just like the time I read Eliot and knew I would major in English, that gave me the sign that it might be time to explore my options and seize the moment when it presents itself. 

Thanks to the authors, the lyricists, the philosophers who have shaped my way of thinking, I'm ready to listen to Emerson--"He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety." I'm ready to listen to Eminem--" The moment, You own it, you better never let it go." I am ready to listen to myself, to take the words that have nested inside me for the past 40+ years, and let them guide me into my next 40 where I will " Get it together and see what's happening" and continue to welcome new opportunities to pepper my journey.

Seize the Day.