When Someone Believes In You

When I decided to listen to the audiobook for Roger Ebert's Life Itself: A Memoir, I am not sure what I expected.  I love movies and always enjoyed his shows.  I have been following him on twitter for a couple years and generally appreciate his observations and politics.  I was aware that he had overcome significant medical complications and seemed to be living his life as fully as possible.

I just finished the book today and had a number of observations.  I am not sure how many I will blog about, but one theme of the book that really stood out is how important it was for Roger to have people believed in him.  He had key moments throughout his life (school, work, health problems, etc.) when people demonstrated how much they believed in him with both their actions and words.  The results of these moments was increased confidence, professional success, and overall affirmation of his worthiness as a person.  This is especially true after he survived cancer and three fail surgeries that followed.  If not for the belief in him by his wife Chaz and dear friends like Studs Terkel it seems clear that he might not have survived or gone on to eventually thrive.

As I was listening to the book I was reminded of seeing the compelling short video story (worth watching) of Tererai Trent a couple years ago and then seeing her speak last year at Gallup's Strengths in Education Conference in Omaha, NE.  Tererai's story is amazing.  She grew up in Zimbabwe and was denied the opportunity to get an education because that privilege was reserved for males.  She managed to learn anyway by doing her brother's homework and eventually found a path to education for herself.  One key to her story was that at a critical point in her life someone believed in her.  Tererai should get all the credit she deserves for her remarkable success and I do not generally believe in the idea of saviors, but it was clear how critical it was to have someone believe in her ability to be successful.

My path has also been paved by people who believed in me.  I am reminded of key teachers, wonderful supervisors, important mentors, and trusted friends and loved ones.  Without their belief in me I do not think I would be where I am today which is generally happy and successful.  Any positive impact I have had and will have on the world will have been possible because of them.  I have kept this in mind the last few years and have made one of my core missions to try to be someone in people's lives who believes in them. 

I am fortunate that I have a number of people in my life who believe in me and that I was generally taught as a child to believe in myself.  I have come to understand this is not the case for many people.  There are times I have been hurtful, petty, and selfish towards others, but I believe I have evolved significantly and continue to grow as a person.  I now want to be someone who helps lift people up, encourages people to follow their passions, and is a positive force in people's lives.  Above all else, I want people to know that I authentically believe in their capacity for happiness and success and that the power to achieve those things can be found in believing in themselves.