Every once in awhile, I run across a story that must be shared. Nancy Davis, Ph.D. creates a story of changing identify from worthlessness to one of value. Its too good not to share.
The Oyster
Once upon a time an oyster lay on the bottom of the bay. Oysters are very rough on the outside and not very colorful. The shell of an oyster is often ground up into small pieces and used to make roads. People and vehicles ride and walk all over roads made out of oyster shells.
This oyster was no different. "I am designed to allow people to walk all over me because I'm just a yucky, ugly oyster," the oyster told herself day after day. "I was created for people to walk on me." The oyster had also heard that people sometimes become poisoned from eating oysters. So she told herself, "I'm really worthless; all I do is make people sick."
Often when oysters are served at restaurants, people remark, "Yuck, oysters are slimy, they're yucky. Why would anyone want such a repulsive thing?" So the oyster would say to herself, "They're right, I'm not worth anything, I'm slimy, people hate me, and I am worthless."
It was not surprising that the oyster was always feeling sad. "Why couldn't I have been something different? Why couldn't I have been a diamond or a ruby? Why couldn't I have been a sand dollar or have a shell that could be made into earrings? Why, why, why?" the oyster asked, as she thought a lot about what she wasn't. She told herself over and over that she was ugly and awful and slimy and made many people sick.
One day a fisherman threw a net into the bay and caught this oyster in his net. The oyster was even more upset and cried out, "This is exactly what I was afraid of. Now I'm caught and everyone is going to discover just how ugly and repulsive I really am."
The fisherman had a different way of looking at things than the oyster. Finding the oyster in his net, he opened the shell with a knife. From deep within the shell, he pulled out an exquisite white pearl. This discovery surprised the oyster. She had paid no attention to the hard pearl as it grew within her. "Isn't it amazing that you can have something so valuable within you and not even realize it? How could this be?" asked the oyster. "How could I have this beautiful pearl inside me when I am so ugly?"
Because the fisherman had spent his life on the sea, he sensed the oyster didn't understand how a pearl is formed and he began to talk to her. "Long ago, when you were very little, there were things in your life that were very irritating and scary and sad and painful. To deal with this, you began to build a covering around your feelings. You wrapped and wrapped all your pain and sadness to protect yourself. This was really helpful when you were young and the pain was very real. What you did not realize and now you can see, is that you changed this awful pain into a valuable pearl. You found a way to take your pain and sadness, crystallize it and change it into something exquisite. this pearl was within, just waiting to be discovered."
"Wow", cried the oyster, "that's very surprising." Then the fisherman broke away the shell from the outside of the oyster because she didn't need that anymore. He removed the yucky, slimy part because she didn't need that anymore either. Then he polished the pearl allowing the beauty and luster to shine through. The fisherman gave the pearl to his daughter. She wore it on a necklace of gold and prized it dearly.
"Isn't it amazing?" the little pearl remarked to herself. "I never realized that I am special. I was unaware that deep within there was a pearl waiting to shine like a jewel." As the pearl continued to think about life, she realized the most valuable jewels are often buried and are just waiting to be discovered and polished.
Davis, N. (1996). Once upon a time...therapeutic stories that teach and heal. Burke, VA: Nancy Davis, Ph.D .
