Your Voice Matters, Even When It Shakes • Ep 24
Sometimes the most important thing we ever do, is to speak up and say something when everyone else around us stays silent.
Episode #24: Transcript
About 20 years ago, my extended family was out to dinner at a popular chain restaurant. It was noisy and everybody was talking, and I overheard a conversation that apparently the rest of my table didn't hear.
Let me paint the picture for you. It was behind me, but it sounded like a young waitress came up to the table behind us, and I heard a man say to his probably high school-aged daughter something like, "You need to do something with your life. I don't want you to waste your life. You don't want to end up like her" (meaning the waitress being young and having to work tables). He was incredibly degrading, and I wish I could remember his exact words.
I kind of froze in my seat as I heard this. Unfortunately, I did not get right up and say something. I'm not sure why, but I felt it was wrong. I knew that it was wrong, and I looked around the table to see what everybody else thought, but nobody heard it except me.
Maybe 10 minutes later, after my family had paid the check and gotten up to leave, I saw the waitress. She had come back to clean up the table, and I walked over to her and said, "Hey, I overheard what that guy just said to you, and I just want you to know you are worthy. There's nothing wrong with you." I'm now remembering it had something to do with being a young mom or not going to college. I can't remember exactly how he insulted her, but it was horrible. She had been crying, and she said to me, "Yeah, I had to hold back the cooks because they wanted to come out and beat this guy up because I was so upset."
The gist of what I said to her, though my 50-plus-year-old brain is failing me a little bit, was basically, "You can do whatever you want with your life. I was a young mom. I went to college a little later than I had planned, but anything is possible. It doesn't matter if it takes you four years to finish your degree or six or even longer." It sounded more eloquent when I said it, I think. I remember I was kind of shaking because I was nervous about approaching this stranger and talking to her, letting her know I heard the horrible way she was insulted and trying to give her this pep talk.
That was at least five or six years before I even got into the personal development space or even knew I wanted to encourage people to live their best lives. But I had this push inside me that said, "This is wrong. You need to say something." So that was a long-winded way to basically say: we all need to trust our gut more, and your mission on this earth could be as simple as speaking up one time, just one time.
Your Challenge This Week
As you head into this week, I challenge you to trust that uncomfortable feeling in your gut when you witness something wrong and to speak up, even if it's just one time, for one person, because sometimes the kindest thing we can do is let another person know they are worthy. Remember, your voice matters, even when it shakes, and even when you're the only one who speaks.
Have a fabulous week, my friends!
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