Over the weekend of one of our workshops, two of the participants had the unique privilege of witnessing a rare and meaningful moment in the life of a stranger on the street.
They were on assignment to spend some time in the community with a certain purpose in mind, and as a result, they found themselves at a bus stop with a woman in her 50s or 60s who held a bag protectively at her side.
She eventually explained with embarrassment that there was a teddy bear in her shopping bag.
Then, she eventually felt safe enough to share the fact that the teddy bear was a brand new purchase, to replace her childhood bear which had been torn in two many decades ago.
Not only that, but she had just spent more than $200 for its long-overdue replacement.
How many emotions had stirred over the years to bring her to this point, so that she could finally find closure to something that had been so evidently painful from her childhood?
Here was a woman creating the change she needed, to overcome the pain of a memory that had been with her for so many years.
In that moment of self-designed healing, this woman chose prosperity.
She was ready to move forward, and overcome the hindrances that had weighed her down all those years. Why, I wonder, did she wait so long? What joy she must feel, and what wonderful experiences await her now that she can look forward instead of being stuck in the past!
It was a beautiful thing, that the participants could witness such a pivotal moment in this stranger’s life. They may be the only people in the world with whom she felt safe enough to tell.
There are two lessons to be learned from this story.
Lesson Number 1:
Every person you meet has a story. Everyone has heartaches, and burdens that they have carried, sometimes for a very long time. See people as people – not objects. Listen. Find out where they’re coming from before imposing your agenda. Through listening first, see whether or not your offering even fits with their life concerns, dreams, and dilemmas. If you put people first, you’ll prosper with an abundance of rich relationships, whether or not you end up doing business together. That’s prosperity.
Lesson Number 2:
What pivotal life-moment can YOU create for yourself right now? Transformations come from decisions. Action on those decisions create change. Do something different this week to heal an old hurt, or to allow yourself to move forward boldly, and courageously.
And perhaps a bonus lesson: to have added respect for the favorite teddy bear in the life of a child. 🙂
If you’d like some help creating a significant shift in your life too, join us for Genius Bootcamp.
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3 Responses
🙂 thanks so much for all you’ve done for me and all these people! 🙂
Pivotal has been a word in my life recently. I’ve always wanted to sing and tonight I sit here contemplating the money for lessons and read this story. I’ve always felt pushed down or negative response about singing but love it with all my heart and I think the lessons will be my teddy bear.
Also, I recently had the pleasure of meeting a person that has taught me so much about respecting people as people and the boundries they might currently have to keep them “safe”. I think this world needs a tremendous amount of this divine kind of love. Thank you for posting this!
Leslie, Thank you for sharing that inspiring story with us. As I look at and interact with people, I’m going to remember your metaphor and ask myself, “who or what is this person’s teddy bear?” That special thing-that special person-that special event-that identifies them more closely with who they really are. Each of us has our teddy bear; to really discover someone on a deeper level we need to look at them that way. Thanks for the reminder! Cristie Gardner