Celebrate Someone Else's Win!!

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to go wrong? Karma almost always seems to come in bunches. Here is a story of an awesome event that took place about a month ago. It will impact me for the rest of my life.

I invited my a close friend out for a glass of wine on a Wednesday a couple of months ago.

When I got there I immediately could tell that something was wrong. I asked her about her day and she broke down.. She is a teacher at an Autistic High School. Most days are okay but this particular day was her worst. One of her students freaked out during an economics class. The student told her she was, "a "Mean Person", a terrible teacher, stupid, and a horrible person". After class was over and she tried to put the pain away when one of the teachers in the cafeteria sat down next to her and asked to have a personal conversation. The teacher told her that some of the other teachers were concerned that my friend might be racist, confrontational, and off-putting.. She was completely caught off guard. (She is an incredible woman, but believes in rules and integrity. She is very open about her feelings and can be opinionated, but she also is compassionate, loving, smart, driven, etc. etc. etc.) When she finally sat down with me she lost it...

During our conversation I was trying to be supportive. She told me that when it comes down to it, (we are the only ones that can guide us to where we want to be). That's when I interrupted her... (mind you I am not a teacher) I asked her what her passion was. She responded, "impacting peoples lives"... I then asked her what was stopping her from impacting this student's life... She responded, "his arrogance". In which I replied with this.. "Tracy, you were put you into this world to help save people from themselves. Teach them to stand up for themselves, teach them that the only disability in life is a bad attitude, and most important teach people to accept other peoples opinions. No one is enthused about economics in High School. Your power is not in the just the book.. It's in your ability to empower people to believe in themselves..) She looked at me dumbfounded and simply said, "Thank you. Tell me about your day." I was a little embarrassed because it just happened to be the best day of work I had in awhile. Although I could still see pain in her eyes, as I told her about my day she began to smile and laugh.. and when the meal was over and the bill came she grabbed it.. I asked her what she was doing, because I invited her out for a drink.. She said the most amazing thing I had ever heard and I will never ever forget it.... (I am paying because today I am celebrating YOU! Next time when your having a bad day, celebrate someone else.. Maybe one day you will celebrate my day ...)

This single event in my life will be something that impacts me forever. I have used others success to keep me motivated and it has helped me build some incredible relationships.

-Let me know how you have celebrated someone's success 

@brent.murray@mutualofomaha.com