Life can be surprising at times. As every New Year I have been having a crisis about my life. I have taught English for 14 years now. I started teaching by default, as it was an easy way to get a job and start making money. In recent years I have become tired of endlessly trying to convince the French that they can learn English. The French know they need to speak English for professional reasons, and for travel; but the global dominance of the language of their historic enemies obliges them to resist any attempts to teach it. So every year, and sometimes more often, I anguish over what else I could do. Inevitably I find a reason why I can not do anything but teach.
Then on the second day of the New Year I opened my letter box and unexpectedly found a card from my local mason. This is not unusual. French people traditionally send New Year cards rather than Christmas cards; a fact I exploit as an excuse not to send any Christmas cards. Often tradesmen such as electricians or plumbers send cards to their clients. What was surprising about the card I received from our mason was the quote over the photograph of a bridge.
"La volonté est un pont qui permet d'aller d'un monde imaginaire vers le monde réel"
Roughly translated: "Willpower is the bridge from the imaginary to the real world."
Sometimes I find motivational quotes pretentious but this one struck a cord with my mood. It was also curious as I had not imagined my down to earth mason being someone who went in for this type of profound sayings. Which just goes to show you can never judge people.
Anyway the quote spoke to me and helped shake me out of my holiday stupor. I already have one ambitious target for this year to train for, and run a 47km Trail race in the mountains. Now I just need to pin down how I can make a living away from English teaching. I enjoy writing, reading, spending time in the mountains or in my garden, but none of these seem a realistic way to make a living. A good friend has been pushing me for a number of years to learn a programming language so maybe this is the way to go. Whatever happens I will be pinning the mason's New Year card up in my office as a source of inspiration to do something I enjoy.
