Pink Think: “Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!” – Anne Frank
Okay, so junior high sometimes can be a downer. And the economy kind of stinks. Do you need a pick-me-up about right now? I know I do.
Two things.
A week or so ago, my 13 year old daughter invited me to a program at school where some students from each class were picked to be student-of-the-month. Having not gone before, I didn’t quite know what to expect. A teacher and the principal stood up front and invited each child to stand between them while a letter from their nominating teacher was read out loud. The teacher read about twenty letters, talking about how one boy always helped his learning disabled classmates, how one girl makes other people laugh and feel good about themselves. But it wasn’t just about achievers, they also featured kids who turned their life around and improved. I walked out of there feeling like the future is in good hands with these young people.
A few days later, this same daughter and her friends were up twenty points at a church basketball game. One of their forwards began this campaign of giving the ball to “Clara” who usually plays timidly. The forward passed the ball to her several times and encouraged her to shoot. This happened two or three times and soon everyone on my daughter’s team caught on. They set up screens and kept passing to Clara. Even my daughter, who had easy, open shots, began passing so Clara could make a basket. And when Clara finally did make a basket, everyone started cheering. My daughter commented later that this game “felt great,” even better than the one before, when her personal stats were better.
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My thirteen year old daughter still writes letters to me, says “I love you” when she leaves for the bus and doesn’t put up sleazy posters in her bedroom.
There is hope, people.
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What is YOUR good news?
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