Permanent. For a reason.

A few years ago, in the midst of a dark time for me, I attended a class called "Life Power". I did it to earn CEUs for teaching, and had no idea what an impact that class would make in my life. We had recently suffered our first miscarriage. Little did I know, we were pregnant with what would be our second miscarriage. And without this class, I may have not made it  through it...emotionally.

"Life Power" was all about finding the positive in life and how that could relate to teaching, school counseling, etc. I ended up taking some of the concepts from that class and applying them in my job at Highland Elementary in Stow. I put myself in a position to try to boost positive energy in my school. Anything that energized the teachers would only benefit the students, right?

One thing that stuck with me from "Life Power" was a story our teacher shared. Being one of the younger ones in the group, I hadn't heard it before, and saw many others smile and nod their heads when she mentioned it. It was called the "Starfish Story". Maybe you've heard it. Read it anyway. It never gets old to me.  It has been told and retold and edited and changed, but the message never changes. 

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.

He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, “I made a difference for that one.”

That story made such an impact on me as a teacher. There were so many children that came in and out of my life, and knowing that I hopefully made a difference in the life of ONE, was so inspiring. 

That class, "Life Power", is what I credit to my desire to go into counseling. The teacher was a veteran school counselor. I wanted to be able to do more. To help these children in a deeper way. This began my journey into counseling...

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the starfish story. When I am faced with my clients, some of whom are very sick, I am often ocerwhelmed and feel like I am facing miles of beach and thousands of starfish. 

But what if I can make a difference?  Even to just one?

Friday night, with some strong encouragement from good friends, I made it permanent. The starfish is a part of me forever. On my wrist. In ink. My first tattoo. Many of you may not approve of tattoos, and I respect that.  Please respect I'm making a statement and reminding myself every day, that when I'm away from my child, working so hard to be helpful to others, working so hard to help them feel so better and live better, I'm doing it for a reason. It matters. And it could make a difference. 

And even if it makes a difference to only one, it was all worth it.