Soul Carving

       Children are pleading for my attention, dinner preparations are stalled, I'm staring at the computer screen with my head in my hands as I realize there's another page of 7 more questions to complete for my homework that's due in 20 minutes. But my class starts in 15 minutes and at this time in the evening, it usually takes me that long to drive there. Then add another 7 minutes to walk from the parking lot to my classroom. It's the second week of classes and already I'm toast. This is how I spell "S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D  O-U-T".        Plus, it's raining out.        So I fumble through the homework questions as best as I can, stuff the textbook into my backpack, throw on a sweatshirt and head out the door, grumbling all the way. In my mind I could hear a calmer, more optimistic me trying to reason with myself.         "Okay, so you're late to class. At least you got the homework done. Feeli...