Do Your Words Inspire?
I absolutely cringe each time I read about a teenage athlete who is left paralyzed from the neck down after a tackle. The most recent of those stories had such an important message, I am sharing it this week ...
After emergency surgery, Chris was given a 3% chance of ever moving below his neck. Just to be clear, that's not a 3% chance of walking, but a 3% chance just of moving!!!
Between worry and regular two-hour vital checks, Chris could not sleep. The typical interaction with physicians and nurses was routine and clinical, until one night ...
A physician he had not met came into his room and knelt down by Chris' bed and said, “Chris, look me in the eyes.” With their eyes locked she said, “My name is Georgia. I’m from Wyoming. Do you know anyone from Wyoming?” When Chris told her no, she continued with, “Well, people from Wyoming don’t tell lies. I’m here to tell you—
You will beat this.”
Up until this point, Chris had questioned whether all the time and effort he put toward his recovery would ever pay off. But Doctor Georgia didn’t say, “You CAN beat this,” she told Chris, “You WILL beat this.” Her words echoed in Chris's head from that day forward, and he finally believed he would beat this!
Long story short, Chris over time, was able to walk across his graduation stage, and a couple of years later, walk his bride down the aisle.
Do you think Doctor Georgia has any idea the impact her words had on Chris? We rarely find out if what we say makes a difference, but Chris is adamant that it does.
Once we realize that our words do have the power to hurt or heal, we too can help to inspire others. We all have the same power Doctor Georgia has. She chose to use that power to inspire Chris, and because of that changed his life forever.
This Week's Focus:
This week, be a Doctor Georgia for others. Our words have the power to hurt or to heal, and everyone is fighting a battle whether we can see it or not. We all know someone in our lives in need of inspiration. So the next time you interact with them, try replacing a passive statement of, “You can beat this…” with an emphatic one like, “You WILL beat this!”
Click on the serenity sticky to print, cut and post on your bathroom mirror to remind you of this week's focus. Good luck!
