Vacation is over and I had to go back to work today.

Don’t get me wrong — I love my job. I just don’t like getting out of bed so early in the morning. And having to go out into the cold to scrape ice off my car. And grading papers when my hands are itching to be crocheting a new scarf with that variegated skein of puffy yarn I just picked up at Michael’s… I’m sure all of us could easily go on and on about all of the things we don’t like about the jobs we really do enjoy most of the time. But that’s not a way to peace.

If we’re looking for peace, we need to look in the opposite direction. Instead of focusing on what we don’t like, we need to dwell on what we do like. Foster a grateful mindset. Look at positives in every day.

So here goes. What I love most about my job: the people.

Those of you who know me best may be trying to hide a smile right now. I’m not really a ‘people person’ and normally if I had a choice between reading a book or spending time with people, I’d be in my pjs by the fireplace. But hear me out.

My coworkers are awesome. We’ve got each other’s backs and give each other gifts. We watch each others’ classrooms so we can run to the bathroom in the middle of the school day. We listen, we share, we laugh together. My coworkers make it almost easy to go out in the cold and scrape the ice off my car. Almost.

My students are pretty amazing, too. Today, as every day, they sat on the floor in the gym waiting for me to come get them. I walked into the room and watched them all jump up and scramble into a straight(ish) line to wait for me. I greet each one by name, smile, and chat with them briefly before moving to the next child in line. They wait quietly(ish) for their turn. Today’s chitchats all seemed focused on what they got for Christmas and how much they missed me. Then we headed down the hallway, discussing our plans for the day. As I walked at the head of that wiggly, whispering, happy line, I was very grateful that I’d gotten out of bed.

And that was before one of my students gave me a stocking shaped rice crispy treat from Disney World. That’s worth getting out of bed for, right?