Half-Full For Today

I've never considered myself a tremendous optimist. If the glass was half full, I'd think that Fred drank some of my Kool-Aid or poured some in a glass for me and left a loogie in there somewhere. That ploy worked best, of course,with Lime Kool-Aid. That doesn't necessarily make me a pessimist, either...I mean, half a glass of Kool-Aid was more than I usually got,anyway. I've been a fence-sitter, I guess, wavering between figurative half-empty and half-full glasses of water...playing the odds or hedging my bets all along. If things were going great, I'd be wary; if things were going down the tubes, I was certain that there was a bright spot coming: there is a limit to the amount of crap that falls in one place, even in an aviary.
At any rate, the apple fell on my head today, and I realized what a sweet gig I have for this school year. Of course, the dark cloud part is that we're only 14 days into it, but I really feel like this last go-round is going to be positive. Sure, I teach every minute of the day except for my 30-minute lunch break; sure, I've got freshman and two classes with written homework; the other day, I walked over 20,000 steps between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. giving me, roughly, 10 miles of exercise for the day. However, it struck me today that I have no stress...no office politics; no complaining or listening to complaints about who isn't doing the job and which kids are the most rotten and who does and who doesn't enforce the rules. It's fabulous. I prepare in the evening, walk in and present the lesson in my inimitable fashion and move to the next one. In no time, my day is complete, and I still feel positive. It feels a little like dentistry, as I have said, but I think my patients look forward to seeing me in a way that a dentist does not experience.
Of course, it's early in the year, but I like it! So, why would I retire? Hmmm.