I wrote this a few years ago based on a Toastmaster speech I heard. The lady who delivered this speech was adamant that she was not going to let anyone put her down. She was going to be the success she knew she could be. I hope you enjoy.

Watch Me

Verse 1

When you left you said I’d never make it all alone and didn’t think twice and leaving me on my own.

You led me to believe that I couldn’t make it without you, and didn’t care what happened when you said we were through

But then I realized I am made of stronger stuff. You think that I won’t make it when the times get tough?

Chorus

Watch me, as I get over you. Watch me, as I do something new.

You stand there and doubt me, but you will see. I won’t let you dictate what my life will be. Watch me.

Verse 2

You told me I was hopeless, that we just didn’t fit, that I would never find someone to put up with all of it.

You went out of your way to tear my heart in two. You thought when you left I wouldn’t know what to do.

I finally realized the only thing wrong with me was you. I have wasted so much time, I have so much to do.

Chorus

Watch me, as I get over you. Watch me, as I do something new.

You stand there and doubt me, but you will see. I won’t let you dictate what my life will be. Watch me.

You will never bring me down again.

What a wonderful day. That is what today has been. Such a good day with my two favorite people enjoying each other’s company and food and movies and more food and more movies….yeah, it was a good day.

So, when thinking about what to write this evening I decided to share a few things that I am thankful for.

I am so thankful to God for the life that He has given me. I am thankful for His Son and for saving me. I am thankful for my family: my wife, my boy, my parents, my brother and sister in law, my niece, my in-laws, and for my friends who are my God given family.

While out on a walk tonight I reflected on a few things that I am thankful for that are out of the ordinary. I’d like to share a couple of those with you as well:

I am thankful for people willing to say a good word for you. Years ago a friend reached out to me and asked for my resume. He worked at a large company in the town I lived in and knew I was on the hunt for a different job. He spoke up for me and got me an interview. I made an impression on the hiring manager and have been working in the same industry for the last 12 years. I never would have thought this would be the career I would enjoy, and had a friend not said a good word for me, I may have been doing something different now.

I am thankful for getting fired from my last job. Yes. I really am. The company that hired me in their paragraph above was where I worked for almost nine years. The majority of my time there was wonderful. The last couple of years made my hair start turning gray at a faster rate. I was burned out. I was tired. I got fired just at the right time. When you work for a big company, layoffs are a reality. They don’t necessarily mean you are a bad worker or a bad person. That job is not longer the right fit for you. That was the case for me. Now, I do similar work for a company I enjoy so much more. It may sound strange, but I am so thankful for getting fired.

What are some things that you are thankful for that are out of the ordinary? What has happened in your life that fills you with gratitude? Take a few moments and share them. If you are up for it, share them with me. I would love to hear it.

If you have made it this far in this post, please know I am thankful for you too. I hope you had a wonderful day surrounded by people you love.

Verse 1

Who am I? I don’t remember. Time keeps passing by.

I find myself in mid winter, a haze covers my eyes.

I walk down this road now, no one is here to feel my pain.

But, I know I have to keep moving on and I will see the sun again. I will see the sun again.

Chorus

Carry on. Carry on. Put one foot in front of the other.

Carry on. Carry on. What else have I to do? What else have I to do?

Verse 2

No I don’t know where I am going. I just can’t go where I’ve been.

The winds of change keep blowing on and on. I don’t know where I’ll land.

I have hope that there is more than this, that this life has more to give.

One day I will make it through this dead land. I will finally start to live.

I will finally start to live.

Chorus (3x)

Have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? Have you had one land in your hand, and watch it as it flutters? On a spring day as you walk through a park and you can see them fly around. Have you ever felt their beat? They are beautiful creatures. Small. Graceful.

What if I told you there was amazing power hidden in their wings? That the beat of a butterfly’s wings could cause a hurricane? Could something that small cause something so large and life altering?

There was a theory postulated many years ago that stated that a Butterfly’s wing beat in Africa could cause a hurricane in San Francisco. I am not going to go into the science, but let’s ask the question: have you ever witnessed something insignificant that made a huge impact? Have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? Are you sure?

It was the fall of 1997. I had just moved to Edmond Oklahoma, a sophomore at the University of Central Oklahoma. I came to study singing…I was going to be an Opera singer. Yes. It’s true. (I am glad that is not where I ended up…) When I got to campus I started attending the Baptist Student Union. I knew I needed to meet people, and am very thankful I soon met a cool guy named Matt.

Matt was a couple of years older than me. He was a college student, but also a college pastor at a good sized church in Oklahoma City. He invited me to a Singles Bible Study at his church and I was happy to come along. Over the next several months I got to spend time with Matt and learned that he was an excellent minister. He loved people. He loved getting to be a help in people’s lives. Working at the church was not his first career choice initially. He originally wanted to be a chef.

On April fool’s day in 1998 I was at the church with Matt and he introduced me briefly to a girl named Marixa. They were friends and she politely told me hi, and then talked with him for a few and went on.

Over the next few months Matt planned out different trips that the college group took. Marixa and I both went on the trips that Matt organized. We “noticed” each other on the first trip. We started dating after the second trip. A few months later we were engaged and a few months after we were married. 1998 was 21 years ago.

Since then Marixa and I have had a son and are building our family still. We were able to introduce two friends who came to our wedding to each other. They have been married now for 17 years. They have two beautiful girls.

My question is this: what if Matt had chosen to be a chef? Would I have made it to church on April fool’s day? Would I have had the chance to meet the woman who has been my best friend through thick and thin? I don’t know the answer to that, but I believe things would have been very different.

It is interesting though. What Matt did was seemingly small at the time. I was only one person in his ministry. He was a cool dude who did amazing work. He befriended me, invited me, provided a ride to church, mentored me…it is all small stuff in retrospect, but it made a huge difference in my life.

Life is like that through. If we look at it from high above, human interaction is like a tapestry. What we do weaves in and out with others. We touch each other’s lives in far reaching and impactful ways. A small thing for us can become a huge piece of someone else’s life. Think about your life. What was small at the beginning that is now huge?

What we do everyday matters. Every interaction. Everything. You never know when what you do will set of a chain reaction of awesome for someone else.

To my original question, have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? I have. I can see the great changes it made in my life. It is my sincere hope that you feel its gentle flutter now, here in this moment.

Someone asked me the other day, “what is something you wish people would say to you more?” I didn’t really have an answer for this. It is a question that has never really crossed my mind. I have, however, thought about something that I should say more often: thank you.

I am from the south. It is how we were raised. You say please. You say thank you. You show respect. I’m learning that even though I was taught these things, I may have initially missed the point of why we do them. We don’t say thank you only because we have been taught to. We say thank you as a way to be and stay grateful.

What does it mean to be grateful? To be grateful means you have a sincere feeling of appreciation. You are genuinely touched at the act or service of another.

How long has it been since you felt that way? Tell the truth. We live in a very fast paced, very entitled world. We expect good service, so we don’t think to say thank you when we receive it. We expect for things to be done right, so it doesn’t cross our mind to say thank you when they are. We transact business daily with so many people and do not look them in the eye and show them sincere gratitude. This has to change.

For a while now I have tried my best to say thank you several times a day to many different people. It catches many by surprise, including my bride. I told her thank you the other day for doing my laundry. She asked me why I was saying thank you. I looked deep in her eyes and said, “because I appreciate what you do.” And I do. I needed to say it to her as much as she needed to hear it from me.

I even try to practice this at work. I got some confirmation the other day that my coworkers are noticing my habit. I was walking out of a coworker’s office. She stopped me and told me thank you. I asked her for what. She said for two reasons. First she appreciates they way I help her at work. I told her it was my pleasure. The second reason? She told me she has seen how I go out of my way to show gratitude say thank you and she really appreciates it and wants to do more of it herself. That caught me off guard in a very good way.

We have so much to be thankful and grateful for. I challenge you and me both to go out of the way to show that gratitude to someone today. It will brighten their day. It will also keep you focused on the good things in yours.

Thank you so much for reading this. I appreciate you.