Thanks Mr. Hardy - Yes, Differences are Wonderful!

There I was, sitting on the sofa watching my sons' favorite show WWE Friday Night Smackdown, when something caught my attention and impelled me to move from my comfy spot in the living room to the darkened recesses of my office...

I am not a huge fan of wrestling, in fact, I have only developed any form of interest due to the 24/7 onslaught of Smackdown, Raw, ECW and TNA trivia that has lately become my (almost) 9 year olds life! I have, however taken a liking to a couple of stars for one reason or another. One of them is Jeff Hardy. I believe that initially it was the "Image", the style mirrored my own slightly left of center signature look and tonight it has become so much more...

I am an educator. I work with elementary grade children and often receive second glances as though to say: "You teach my kid?" or "Nah, no way, you don't look like a teacher". Tonight Mr. Hardy made a statement tonight that struck home to me and a statement that I hope reached out to all those "misfits" and "rejects" that we don't have to look the same, we CAN live life to the beat of own drum and it most certainly doesn't make us bad people! We CAN accomplish greatness without fitting into the mold of society standards and expectations. Yes, Mr. Hardy, you are correct - life WOULD be dull if we were all the same!

A great part of my enjoyment of life is meeting people who are like me, but more often, people who are different, people who make me think outside my own box. People who make me realize that although I am often looked upon as not typically "fitting the role", I have every right to do what I do and that it makes my cause more believable!

Every day I come across kids who are either (in their eyes) too tall, too short, to thin, too fat, not accepted by their peers because of their dress and if I were the perfect size 1 with a barbie body and golden blonde hair who wore expensive designer labels - attached to the clothing obviously - and never had to struggle or fight for what I believe in a day in my life, would they believe me when I told them that they were beautiful. That we are all different and that is what makes us special - who wants to be like everyone else, how boring the world would be if we were all alike. What is perfect anyway? People are all attracted to different things, different looks, different personalities - love yourself for who you are - because I do!..... No way!

I am 5'10' I am 164lbs, tattooed, black hair and wear whatever the hell I please! I am not a perfect body model, I am not a pin up - I am me!

My "image" - which, to be frank, is not an image, it is me, take it or leave it - actually works in my favor. The kids listen to me when I speak, they are interested, and when they see my tattoos and tell me they want one, I can honestly give them the truth... Wait until you are older, think solidly about what you want - you have it for life so don't rush in. If a non-tattooed, traditional teacher told them this, they would have the mind set of: "What do they know?"... am I right?

Both adults and children need to hear that differences make us beautiful, make us interesting. That we are acceptable no matter how we look, as long as we strive to do good and follow our dreams.

Thanks Jeff Hardy for putting that out there.......

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