Overwhelming. Exciting. Yet truly Cringy. Your first year as a teacher is a disproportionate mix of different emotions… mine was too. Investing time on things that didn’t matter, feeling burned out, and controlling everything in the classroom, from the bulletin boards to the posters, I pressured myself to perfect everything that needn’t be.If you’re a first-time teacher, it will help you know how typically messy the time was for me. Even in my latest year of teaching I felt kind of new again! As a first-time Nova Scotia teacher, I didn’t have my own room and I was teaching English and Math, and French in a completely French environment which felt so out of place for me. But over time, the little challenges, discomforts, or changes either faded away or became less intimidating. But whatever the case, today, I cannot help but acknowledge how far I’d come in my career. Have you ever given it a thought too?Amid the hustle and bustle, we all deserve to spare a moment to appreciate the journey, how much we’ve changed, and how the toughest of tasks have become easy for us now. Launching Camp Kinder, I realized I had to take a second to be proud of myself. Not for the marketing or organization or the numbers, but for my mindset that was in control and ready always. In today’s episode, I’m talking to you about just that. Appreciate yourself for your little wins… it doesn’t have to be extravagant, it just has to be a moment you feel good in.As an exercise, how about you take a few mins to appreciate your up-and-down journey in life so far? Even the lows… because they also taught you how to make your way out of them, didn’t they?“The point of a low is that we realize we can get out of it. And there's a high after.”Listen to this short episode for more on this subject. AND.. feel free to send me an email at mariah@aplayfulpurpose.com about your growth journey. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, I’d love to hear even just a short sentence about your little wins.KW:  up and down journey, little wins, professional growth, first year, growth journey, appreciate yourself