You is smart, you is kind, you is important.

One of my favorite books last year was The Help, a story about a young writer during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s who is determined to write a book detailing the African-American maid’s point of view, and the hardships they endured. The movie was equally great. The movies tag line is “Change begins with a whisper.” Change also begins with finding your strength within. The scene that resonated with me most takes place in the child’s nursery. A young white toddler, ignored and shunned by her mother, is sitting on her maid’s lap. The maid is softly singing to her, “You is smart, you is kind, you is important”. The little girl repeats the words, “you is smart, you is kind, you is important”, and lovingly touches her maids face. It’s moving and bittersweet. The devoted maid was giving her heart and a priceless gift to a small child with a mother who didn’t seem to care. The maid was teaching a precious child what a cherished treasure she is, and will always be. I believe we all want to feel important. Important in the sense that we really matter and that someone truly cares. As a trainer I can’t help but get attached to the people I work with. I take a genuine and deep interest in who they are, and I always hope they know how important and valuable they are to the world. I am always excited and 100% confident that they can run that race, complete their first marathon, or simply feel better about themselves and their health. Helping people feel important is important to me. A dear friend of mine was recently blindsided with a very difficult break up. She shared that the saddest part was how she no longer felt important to this person. We went for a run and I told her how smart, how kind and how wonderfully important she is. I want to sing that to everyone…

If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person. ~Fred Rogers

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson