#41: when someone believes in you
Yesterday, I was doing a podcast interview, and the seemingly required first question was, "What is your story? Include any turning points in your life that significantly impacted you."
I knew the host wanted to get to my "Last Bad Day" story - hey, if it bleeds, it leads, as they say in journalism, but I threw him a slight curve ball. I've never shared this story before, but it substantially impacted my life.
I was never a kid who loved school. I did okay, but only half-gassed my studies. I was more interested in sports but had a thing for math and chemistry even though my grades weren't stellar. At the end of my junior year, we all sat down with our chemistry teacher, Mt. Smout, to talk about AP Chem.
He started the conversation by saying he was on the fence and wanted to hear my perspective. I shared why I loved chemistry and acknowledged the stretch of AP, but I told him I wanted to try.
He said yes.
I'm tearing up as I write because this was the first time I felt that one of my teachers believed in me. Instead of being in the invisible middle, I was worth taking a risk on. He allowed me to see myself differently and welcomed me to sit in the same room as the "smart kids." This moment turned me into a life-long learner.
The class was a heavy lift, and I contributed to the bell curve in my special way, but most importantly, it shifted my inner chatter.
He could have easily approached our meeting with a rigid hold on what he thought was "right," and my grades would have backed him up. But instead, he paid attention to what I was feeling rather than what he was thinking. He decided to listen mindfully.
Each day we are fortunate enough to experience, we might have a handful of moments that will be inflection points. When we rise in the morning, we don't know when they will come, but they will meet us and ask for our mindfulness.
How we show up for them will determine our ripple and the ripples of those around us. This is why we take moments to Pause Breathe Reflect, and practice mindfulness to help us pay attention to the moments that matter.
Because they can change lives
Michael
p.s.,
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For those who love numbers, 41 has curiosity, freedom, and adventure elements associated with it.