You are ENOUGH, we are ENOUGH…

Another school year!  I see some new faces and lots of familiar faces.  It is so nice to see the students stopping by, saying hi, making sure they connect now that they are back on campus after being away for the summer.  I love it!  My son also started kindergarten!  I am excited for him and I am nervous as well…

I read an article recently saying that educational institutions have the responsibility to make the experience of the students as meaningful as possible.  This statement got me thinking and it felt right.  Here I am, working from my office with prospective immigrant students and assisting current students in many different ways.  One big part of my position is to connect with students on a human level.  I will admit that this is the favorite part of my position.

I have worked in educational institutions for the last ten years.  I started as a student advisor in Vegas, then at U of M, and now at Red River College.  I like the energy of educational institutions.  I also realized that I am still a student.  I learn every day how to be a human and I love the stories I hear every day.  I secretly call myself the Story Keeper.

One day, the students we come in contact with will graduate and will go on their own path of life.  Many students will have the same diplomas and professions.  But each student is the only person who has custody of his/her own life.  Not only the life at school and work, but also at home, at the bus, in the car.  We all possess not only a life of our mind, but also a life of our hearts.

You may wonder how does this all related to Wellness?  Bear with me, I am just painting the big picture, I am setting the stage for the main message to unfold.  After all, health and wellness have different dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, etc.  All these dimensions are interconnected.

So, how can I do my part of making the experience of the students meaningful?  I can offer the best of me and be present for the students only when I operate from a place I know I am enough.  I am calmer and I listen.

What makes me ENOUGH?  I am enough because I am alive and I exist.  I am enough even if nobody knows my name.  Becoming successful doesn’t make me enough. It just changes my experience, but it doesn’t change me.

Being enough, I become comfortable with my background, my past experiences, abilities because none of those define me.  Now that I am enough, I don’t have the need to impress people because what people think of me is secondary to the way I think about myself.

As a mother, I have my daily challenges.  I ask myself often of the lessons I would like my son to know.  I read, I analyze, and then….I need a break from it all.  But there is one thing that I want my son to know—that he is wanted just the way he is and that he is loved no matter what.  It is all right to be open to learn more about parenting, but at the end of the day, the best gift children need is the unquestionable approval of their existence.  It sounds simple, but….it can be one of the hardest things to do.