Wellbeing Officer

From the Student Wellbeing Officer

Last week I was in Woolworths.  I had just been to the doctor after having fallen victim to the dreaded cold/flu bug that has been going around, and to be honest, I was feeling rather rotten!  While perusing the shelves, I became aware of a small voice near me cheerfully saying hello.  I turned and there was a small child in a trolley, with her mother next to her talking on her phone.  I said hello back to this little girl, who promptly told me her name is Skyla and she is five years old.  She wanted to know my name and how old I was, and promptly declared us twins (purely because there is a five in my age!), excitedly interrupting her mother’s phone call to tell her.  Her mother hung up the phone and we spoke briefly, with the mother telling me that Skyla had been in hospital only a couple of hours earlier with respiratory issues.  As we said goodbyes and went our separate ways, Skyla called out to me and asked for a cuddle, her arms outstretched.  I laughed and told her that I had a cold and didn’t want to pass it on to her.

Skyla made my day a little less rotten.

Later that day, I saw a post on Instagram by Kunal Nayyar, who plays Raj on The Big Bang Theory.  Kunal wrote:

Super powers are not just meant for people wearing capes.  You too have access to your super powers – the power to forgive, the power to feel limitless compassion, the power to heal the sick with love, the power to change someone’s day with a smile, the power to heal even your own mind and your own body.  It is easy to fall into the trap of every day life and forget that we all have the ability to wear a cape.  It is your time now!  From this moment on, remind yourself that you are so much more than you think you are.

Skyla used her super powers that day, turning my miserable day into something warm and sunny.  Only five years old and with severe health issues, just out of hospital, she changed my day with a smile and her cheerfulness and she left me feeling warm.  It didn’t matter to her that I looked horrendous with the ravages of a cold and I sounded like Darth Vader.  She wasn’t focused on herself and how she was feeling.  Her focus was on me; I was a new friend she hadn’t met yet and someone she wanted to talk to.  She was like a ray of sunshine, bursting through the darkness of my pounding head and making me smile and feel brighter.

How will you activate your super powers?

Tracey McGlashan

Student Wellbeing Officer