_I embrace this new season with a positive attitude._

__

_I embrace this new season with a positive attitude._

__

_I embrace this new season with a positive attitude._

Ashley muttered the affirmation three times like her therapist suggested. Was it working yet? No. Was she committed to keep trying? Yes. No matter if her goal was succeeding at therapy instead of truly convincing herself that this ending was a positive one. It was 7:30am and way too early for true positive feelings, anyway.

Moving away from the mirror where her affirmation was written on a pink sticky note, Ashley walked toward her dresser to slip on her rings. Positive or not, she refused to be late on her first day. She worked hard to be on time. Growing up, her family was late everywhere they went. The clocks in the house and her mom’s car were always set 7 minutes ahead in some sort of mind game her mom would conduct to help herself be on time. It never worked. And it didn’t work for Ashley either, but for a different reason. She would look at the clock and immediately do mental math to figure out what time it really was, and that took more time away from procrastinating the getting ready, which ultimately lead to being late again. It’s a wonder she didn’t find therapy sooner.

The thing was, Ashley enjoyed teaching 3rd grade. It was her favorite thing to do when she wasn’t reading or singing or hanging out with friends or watching new movies or… Okay, it was a job. But it was a job she loved. She just had to remind herself of that every year around this same time. The affirmations hadn’t started working yet, but maybe once she was back in her classroom, a magical feeling of joy would overcome her.

Whether that happened or not, she would have to smile and be cheerful. Because summer break was officially over.