I´m surprising myself

Last night, my private class student called to say he doesn´t want to continue having classes with me. He thanked me for my time but said he decided to use a computer program to learn English on his own. I was stunned and all I said was "okay and good luck with everything." My mind jumped to the money I´d no longer be making and the extra time I needed to fill again. I felt rejected, shocked, and actually rather nauseous.

But then something happened that suprised me.

Out of nowhere, I thought, "maybe this is a good thing." This is not my M.O. Taking disappointment and/or rejection in stride is not one of my strengths. My inner dialogue (yes, I talk to myself) continued with, "Huh? What did you say? How is this a good thing?" I started thinking about how having the class was a gift because it paid so well and that maybe losing it was a gift because it took so much time. I started thinking about all of the things I could do with the time and this morning I made a list:

volunteer gigs
more salsa & merengue lessons
Spanish lessons
job search stuff -- research, resumes, cover letters, etc.
exercise -- maybe yoga or tai chi
intercambios (language exchanges)
trip planning for the time between the end of classes and my flight back to Seattle

As I´ve mentioned before, I was hoping to get a lot out of this year in Chile, including a heap load of personal development. I wanted to learn to take things in stride and confidently procede when things didn´t go according to plan. By golly, I think it´s happening! (Though, it should be noted that I did nearly puke first. Big changes happen in stages, I suppose.)