Those Who See What I Don’t See

There are people in my life who see things in me that I do not see. Case in point; two years ago, a member in my Toastmasters Club encouraged me to compete in the annual speech contest. I’d been a club member for only a year. In my eyes, I was an awkward speaker. I didn’t know what to do with my body while standing in front of an audience. It was unnerving to have everyone looking at me. At times, I’d forget the words I’d so carefully crafted for my speech and fly by the seat of my pants. 

Yet this longstanding member of Toastmasters saw past my bumbling idiosyncrasies, my unpolished edges and my inability to remember everything I wanted to say. Instead, she saw my possibility, my potential and my passion. As a result, along with a personal coach and lots of hard work, I won the District 9 2023 speech contest and brought home the trophy.

Another example comes from my writer’s group. My writing group is comprised of three other women who are polished and published authors. At the time I joined the group, I was writing 200 word inspirational devotions for small publications. But these women, whom I considered to be giants in the world of writing, welcomed me as one of them. 

Wanting to write more than 200 word devotions, I started submitting stories from my past about my family, my dad and his suicide to my writer’s group to critique. These stories were unpolished and my reason for writing them was unclear. Then, one day one of the members told me, “These stories have book potential.” 

Her words resonated within me, and gave me the idea for a book. With lots of help from others, the book was published.

Believing Those People

Looking back on those two examples I have to remember why I chose to believe those people who saw in me what I did not see. 

Even though I was a novice speaker and writer, I trusted the established Toastmaster member and the women in my writer’s group who were published authors. I trusted them because we had a trustworthy relationship. They had no reason to lie to me, neither did they have anything to gain or to lose by sharing what they saw in me. They simply told me what they envisioned and I could take it or leave it. I chose to believe it. 

Why Bother?

Why bother believing those people who see in us what we don’t see? Though it may be a mystery as to how others see in us what we do not see, it is a good mystery; one worth trusting and believing.

P.  S.  I wrote the story of my journey to forgiveness for those who, like me, want to put order to the scattered pieces of our lives. You can find A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness at Redemption Press and Amazon.