I’ve been teaching elementary school for 21 years now. One of the most important
concepts that I teach my students at any age level is that we’re all different in some
ways and that we should embrace and love the things that make us different and
special. Year after year I try to make a difference in children’s lives by making them see
the gifts they have to offer the world. As teachers we try to bring out that self love and
joy in children.
It’s a tough world out there to grow up in and there are so many pressures and
negativity and as an adult I think back to what life was like growing up for me without all
the technology and potential for cyber bullying. I believe that no one grows up
completely exempt from being picked on at some point in their life, that’s just life! It’s
part of growing up and learning to find your inner voice and figuring out who you are
inside. You learn something from these situations and they follow you in life.
As a teacher of young children I spend much time on social emotional issues and I
teach children to talk to someone when they are upset and let them know how they feel
about it. We try to encourage conversations and find common ground. Many years ago I
was teaching preschool and I had a parent who raised his voice with me and upset me
so much that I went to the Principal in tears. On the last day of school we had a
program for the parents and I ended it with a speech about how one of the things I was
most proud of with my preschool class is that they had learned how to be a friend. They
learned to talk to someone when something bothered them and just tell them. They
learned to work out their problems without hitting or crying and we spent a lot of time
working on how to express your feelings. I looked at this man and said, “It made me
realize that we teach this concept to young children but sometimes as adults we forget.”
As adults our feelings, resentment, pride, ego can all get in the way of talking out our
feelings to someone. Years of behavior patterns come to play and maybe some of those
things we learned as children seem to get filed deep inside. I’m guilty of not expressing
myself when someone hurts my feelings. I find that sometimes it’s just easier to let it go.
Nowadays I notice more and more that adults are bullying other adults and the
protection of sitting behind a computer screen seems to make their harsh words ok. I’m
so saddened by people who don’t respect others’ feelings or opinions and write
whatever they want on social media posts. It hurts. We’re all human, we all have a soul
and each day is not promised to us. What happens to the Golden Rule after we grow
up? I also see the good and wonderful people who try to stick up for those people. I see
the love and joy about humanity that many are trying to spread. I feel like reading social
media at times is like riding a roller coaster of emotions.
I have my favorite quote tattooed on my foot, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the
world’. I put it there as a constant reminder to myself. I know I can always do more.
What can you do to be the change you wish to see in the world? So as a teacher I
realize that I have not always followed my own advice about loving who I am inside and
accepting what makes me different. I realize that growing up as a child is somewhat
similar to being an adult. We still have peers that we worry about what they might think.
We still get picked on, it still hurts. I recently had someone from my past say something
unkind to me and it hurt my feelings. It made me take a step back and evaluate, why did
that hurt so much?
I shouldn’t care so much what others think but the truth is, we all care about something.
I’m a teacher and I care about my reputation in my community. I know that I have a
responsibility to my students to be a good role model for them. I take this very seriously.
I will continue to try to bring out that self love and acceptance within my students.
However I have also been trying to do this for myself. I am different and I have
repressed some of my differences because I didn’t understand them. I had an epiphany
that I wanted to share this difference with others so I started this blog to express myself.
I have psychic abilities and I’m trying to embrace them. Everyone has some type of
ability but I noticed that mine were strong and that I wasn’t being true to myself by not
learning how to utilize them. My journey to self discovery over the past few years has
led me to the path of becoming a Medium and speaking with spirits. This post is difficult
to write because there are raw feelings associated with this discovery. Not everyone is
going to understand, many people will judge me. I’m learning that that’s ok. It’s not an
easy thing to share with people because I never know how they will react and as a
result I don’t over share. I’m not interested in debating with people about it or defending
myself to others because honestly, I shouldn’t have to. This is who I am and I’m going to
embrace what makes me different. I’m still just Julie. I’m still a teacher, a friend, a
daughter, a sister, neighbor, cousin, Christian and I still have a loving, kind heart. I have
always wanted to help others and I have discovered a different way that I can help
people. It isn’t something that ‘you’ can see. It isn’t something that is concrete and
visible and controllable and predictable. My spiritual learning journey has taught me to
be open minded to the fact that we live in a physical world but we live in a spiritual
world, also.
