What Goes Around

I wonder who I would be now… if I hadn’t come under her influence?

Because she saw in me – a frightened child – something worth praising and believing in.

Last week’s Thinking Bench was about ‘Running Away’.
In this case… running away from a Children’s Home in London Colney, Hertfordshire.

The Children’s Home, the orphanage, founded and staffed by Anglican Nuns in 1901.

When I joined ‘The Convent Kids’ as a frightened 7-year-old…

One of the young Nuns assigned to lead the orphanage was Helen.
Well, Sister Helen.
Or “Diddy Helen” as we called her.

Bright, capable, talented, tough when she needed to be.
She was a force, I can tell you.
“The Rock” we said… as we spoke of her decades later.

And she picked on me.

She picked on me by finding ways to test my imagination.
She picked on me by discovering tasks that were way outside of my capacity… initially.

And under her piercing gaze, her memorable chuckle, her unyielding direction…
I was stretched.

I climbed.
I built.
I crafted.
I roamed.

Each episode swelling this question within me: “Can I Really?”

I made radios.
I played organs.
I skated and biked and fished and collected…
and marched and rowed and ventured.

Because of her… fear was replaced by almost limitless possibility.

She was truly the first person who believed in me…

long before there was evidence that she should.

When I last saw her… most of our children had left home.

She was then a venerable, much admired Reverend Mother.
One of her younger Sisters – Frances Dominica – founded and funded the very first children’s hospice in the UK.

You couldn’t help being greater when you were around Helen.

And, on that final day, as we sat and reminisced… I gazed at her and said…
“Did I ever tell you how much I loved you?”

In the years since… my mission has been crystal clear…

To look for those who don’t quite see what they’re capable of.
And to open their eyes to that possibility.

Typically, they’ve accomplished much already.

They’ve just not quite understood what extraordinary gifts still lie dormant within.
They’ve not yet seen the influence for good still unborn within them.

The child I taught… who is now an extraordinary leader – in business, as a father, in his church ministry.

The troubled teenager we sat with… who has emerged as a beloved parent and patient nurturer.

It’s a breath-taking way to live… to work.

And – as you read this – I wonder what you’re seeing now?

Can you see the person who first saw something in YOU…
before there was any solid evidence that they should?

More importantly…

Who is there within your influence…
Who could rise to breathless heights…
Because of your attention?

Perhaps, long ago, someone really looked at you.
And wondered…