A message pinged on my phone. It streamed over my screen as a ran on the treadmill. I glanced at it, read the first three words and thought…geesh who’s selling something now?
With my run done, my girls fed, I sat at the kitchen table, clicked on the message and prepared for my time to be wasted.
It was the GreenCouchProject. They wanted to feature me…ME…wait me??? They wanted to feature me in their newsletter. I starred at the screen. I knew exactly who they were. I knew about their project and all their inspiring awesome through the equally amazing Liza Hawkins of (a)musingfoodie who got to sit on the Green Couch and share her story.
As quickly as I could giddily respond heck YES! I couldn’t help but check, make certain so I also replied… Me? Special education teacher and momma? Me?
Yes you silly! A response pinged back.
I went right to their site and downloaded the pinky promise, filled it out and sent it off to them.
The next morning they asked me two questions that would complete the story for their newsletter. I sat for two hours thinking about what to write. Dude, they asked me to answer the questions in 2 sentences…hello my name is Carrie and I talk a lot…I mean A LOTTTTTTT! But, it wasn’t the word limit that had me stumped.
When I filled out my Pinky Promise my mission was to share with others, with the world , that the students with disabilities I work with should not be undersold. They are so much more then their disability. They are capable of so much more when we look past their disability and enhance their strengths.
BUT
No matter how much I typed. No matter which way I wrote it. No matter which way I wove the words together…none of what I said answered the questions they asked about me.
I took a deep breath and searched for the words.
I repeated the questions over and over again in my head and searched for the answer. Slowly the answer came to me. The words began to take form.
BUT
I didn’t want to type them.
I didn’t want to believe them.
If what I was typing was true it meant…it meant … it meant that deep down, way deep down inside of me it was who I really was, how I really felt and what I truly believed. More than that, it meant that there was a strength that I had never owned, never recognized and never embraced. And It meant it was time. It was time for me to see, for me to believe, for me to own what the Green Couch Project already knew about me.
I was time for me to own my gutsy!
. . .
I hope you will take a few minutes to visit the Green Couch Projects site. Check them out and all the amazing work they are doing. Then I double dog dare you to take your own Pinky Promise, share out your own awesome and #SPILLYOURGUTSY just like I did!!
