So this morning I woke up to something quite extraordinary. You know the past 24 hours were a bit of an emotional drain on me in a very odd way. It was a time when I found out that someone I respect very highly (and still do) wasn't really respecting what I have put so much time into for the past year or two. That is a hard thing to come to grips with. And yet, this morning, I wake up to my lovely social connection site (FACEBOOK...yep I'm a lover) and I open my email and what do I see....an email from a former student of mine.
Inside the email it was a link to a page of someone at her school (an older teenager) who is doing something to try and make the world a better place. It was kids with postets on their palms and pushing them at the camera. The student with the postet was in the background, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry. You could tell that it was done by a high school student, but I was so amazed that someone was trying so hard to make a difference (and as this student grows older and gets stronger in themselves and what they are doing, will absolutely make a bigger than a school difference.) In the email my former student said to me that she came across this kid in her school who was doing this and it made her think of me immediately and she shared with me the link...It is called TRUTH IS...(See below)
Well, let me tell you that when I read it something popped into my head. I am doing something right! If a student is thinking of me when some teenager is doing something powerful for themselves, well let me tell you that makes me smile. That means that no matter what other people may think, I am doing something right. I have not only motivated kids to try something different, but when someone they know is doing something powerful and impactful, these students are thinking of me (even when they are not my "students" anymore).
That is when I realized something that we all know inside. You have to not let anyone else dictate what you feel about yourself and what you are doing. Sure we say it all the time to people who are going through something similar, but when it is ourselves going through it, well it isn't always the first bit of advice we go to. Sure we will tell others that we believe it and that we are over it because not everyone will like us, but inside it does hurt a bit. Well, this student sent this message at the perfect time.
The truth is, that what we always knew is the truth. Not everyone will like you, but when someone makes an impact on your life, then you need to tell them. You never know what they are going through or what un-special feeling they are having inside at the moment.
The truth is, that for every person who doesn't respect you there is another one who does respect you.
The truth is, one person can make a difference....but you have to actually speak up and tell the person who made one in you.
The truth is, you don't really ever know the reach you have made. So always believe in what you do.
The truth is, we always have great advice to give when other people are going through something. Now we have to believe it when we hear it or go through it.
The truth is, I will doubt myself again. I will feel left out again.
The truth is, I will feel included again. I will no what I'm doing is right again.
The truth is, you should see what teenagers really have the power to do...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=324632&id=633649007
Thanks, Sara.
About Me
- Jared O'Roark
- Tampa, Florida, United States
- Hi, I'm Jared. First things first, this must be said. I am a dork (although I hear in other countries this word doesn't translate well.) Let me help you out with my personal definition of a dork. I think a dork has something that makes them a little different from everyone else, because they have a love for something that maybe goes against the image they have, but that would describe everyone, right? A dork is the person proud of that difference. I am a dork! I love to laugh, I love to think the world can be good and that there is something in it for everyone. My father always told me that I tend to think sideways, meaning that "some people look at an object and see what it will be; some people look at an object and see what it could be; and then there's my son Jared, who looks at an object and turns it into a million other things then what it actually is." That is me to a "T", I think. And I don't think anyone has put it quite as "nail-on-the-headish" as my dear old dad. :)
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