So Steve and I were talking about the purpose of this blog (he doesn't think there is one, haha) and I decided that I wanted to search for little things in my life that inspired or uplifted me so I could share them with you: mass abyss of cyber space (and family and friends).
So here is one of those little nuggets. I'm sorry I can't embed the video because youtube removed the html, so I strongly suggest clicking here to watch it. For those of you not part of the 26 million+ views that have seen this already, I think you'll be surprised.
Susan Boyle, a 47 year old singer from England made it onto the American Idol-equivalent show, Britain's Got Talent. With nothing special about her, except her homey looks and cute fiesty personality, everyone expected her to be one of the planted "ear-piercing" heart aches that everyone pities for not having a sense of social awareness.
But instead, everyone in the studio, everyone viewing the TV show, and everyone who has seen this clip online got a huge musical smack in the face with the lesson that you really can't judge a book by its cover.
She wowed audiences worldwide. Her very appropriately chosen song, "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables had the crowd standing after the second phrase. While I don't necessarily fall for the "sincerity" of the judges (especially Simon's "sigh", haha), I really was touched. It made me step back and realize that everyone has talents and I need to remember to take people seriously, no matter their age, race, gender, hometown, or physical appearance.
Susan Boyle has no doubt been criticized for her less-than-super-star appearance at some point in her life. Maybe she never followed the right avenues to find her way into stardom (at least until now). But she is a beautiful woman with a firey personality and her dreams count as much as the next person's.
Aren't we all like Susan Boyle? Don't we all have talents that, if developed, could someday rock the world? I think so. But the key is to make it happen. While we may never appear on American Idol, or Britain's Got Talent, we have countless opportunities throughout our lives to bless ourselves and the lives of others around us. We never may be a big deal to the world, but we have tremendous influence in the attitude we have about life. Susan didn't need 26 million viewers to feel good about herself. She already had confidence within herself and that was what people noticed most. I hope that I can believe in myself the same way.
So here's to you, Susan. I want to be better. I want to judge less. I want to have more confidence. I want to dream more. Thanks for the inspiration.
That really was such a neat clip. I even was a little nervous for her before she started singing so I learned a good lesson too!
ReplyDeleteIt really is great, isn't it? Kinda like Paul Potts a couple of years ago . . .
ReplyDelete