*This blog post was taken from a school counseling newsletter written in Sept. '21, as students were returning to school from the pandemic.
In the midst of a long journey, it’s nice to stop every once in a while to see what you’ve learned. For instance, I have learned that every dog is a service dog during a worldwide pandemic, there is no limit on how many times you can rearrange your apartment in the name of mental health, I deeply miss ga-ga-ball, and lastly, (perhaps most importantly), you should never take an inflatable kayak through the Montlake Cut. But when life throws you curveballs, you don’t frantically try to move backwards in hopes that you can put the pieces back together, (or out-paddle large boats). To quote C.S. Lewis, “There are far, (far) better things ahead than what we leave behind.” But if this is true, why do human beings continually try to cover up their past instead of grow in the present? I think it is precisely because we are human.
Is there a better lesson to teach our students than this? That regardless of what happens, we can be human together, continually striving to accept what is true and learn that authenticity is always best. With this in mind, maybe our students have just embarked on their best school year yet. Maybe Zoom chats and Seesaw lessons are what will show our students their internal strength. Maybe we can all make it through the Montlake Cut with an inflatable kayak, because we realized that our paddle is reliable and the large waves won’t deflate us. I can’t wait for this year and all that it brings. Upward and onward to the best year yet!
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