There are Monday mornings when you just have to hit, “New Blank Word Document” and start fresh. Throw out all that old cynicism and hate and retool the philosophy cause THIS AIN’T WORKING!

We are numb. Suffering from an American entitlement that says that if we work hard and do no harm in the world, our lives will prosper. I’m not feeling so prosperous this morning and I bet you’re not either.

Because we are doing harm in the world and it’s time for us to take responsibility. Forget the leaders, forget the government, forget all that and come up with your own set of “ways to evolve” because that is really what I’m talking about. Evolution.

Did you care about the second presidential debate or are you just waiting for the circular firing squad to do its job? Do issues matter or is Andrew Yang correct in his evaluation,

“We’re up here with make-up on our faces and our rehearsed attack lines, playing roles in this reality TV show. It’s one reason why we elected a reality TV star as our president.”

“We need to be laser focused on solving the real challenges of today,” Yang said as he pivoted to his proposal of giving families a “freedom dividend” of $1,000 a month.

“It’s not left, it’s not right but forward.”

And there it is. The day after the debates, SFGate runs three debate related stories one about Kamala Harris’ Dodgers baseball cap, one about the many memes created about Tulsi Gabbard’s mild attack of Kamala Harris and one about Biden telling Harris to ‘Go easy on me kid.’ Before the debate.

Is it just me or are we a little off topic? And here I have to apologize for my own juvenile evaluation of the first debate (as you may have surmised I go off topic often, it’s not like I’m running for president: http://valleytalking.blogs.sonomanews.com/2019/02/28/usa-namaste-walts-new-world-order/).

But let’s get back to evolution. On my golf and tennis teams, each player has to make a seasonal goal, two-year goal and five-year goal. My tennis coach did this when I was a wee lad in Modesto and although I didn’t make it to Wimbledon I did start thinking about my future. Sadly, we have evolved to where we don’t play the long game anymore because just making it through today is such a freaking struggle.

Sure we differ on what “the real challenges of today” are but can’t we come to a consensus on some things. Promoting love is better than hate. Crazy people (and maybe all people) should not have access to weapons that kill-from Kim Jong Un to Patrick Crusius. That we love the earth and it gives us life so maybe it would be smart to keep it healthy and beautiful. And most importantly that problems are just challenges that haven’t been solved yet.

Ready to start? Think of 5 things in your life that need attention, big and little. I’ll give you mine this morning:

1) How can I get my message of evolution out so others will understand?

2) How can my 20^thyear in my classroom, on the golf course, and on the tennis courts be the greatest, most successful ever?

3) How can I best support my kids who still need me but also need to figure out how to maneuver in the world on their own?

4) How can I better teach Algebra, Geometry and Biology so students will receive maximum benefits from my classes?

5) How can I make my final 30 years matter?

Next, make lists, at least two strategies per problem. For number one: Write more, debate more, listen more, think more, engage more. Number two: Plan more, organize, compartmentalize, you get the idea.

Finally, sit down with your calendar and make it real: Tuesday at 1:00 I will align my Algebra class with not only the California Common Core State Standards and my thematic units but also the pacing guide from SVHS so that when students transfer into my program they will have continuity in their classes. It’s that easy.

And by easy I mean hard as hell but if we’re going to evolve we have to do the work.

Wake up and smell the dysfunction America. Evolve now.