Words That Lifted Me

For years, I looked down on myself. I think I was trying to do that thing where they say you can’t shame the shameless. More like I’ve already been looking down on myself, so no other form of the same thing would even make me feel any lesser of myself.

Just yesterday, this man I’ve known almost my whole life called me to ask if I could mentor her daughter. I actually laughed and said thank you because I thought he was just trying to compliment me on something: maybe my outfit or my hair.

But he wasn’t laughing or smiling. He looked serious so I had to ask what he meant. He then started narrating my whole life to me. He’s been our neighbor for as long as I can remember, and he’s literally watched me grow up. He told me how graceful he thinks I’ve been growing. I actually told him it’s by the Grace of God, and he added that I’ve also done well.

“The way you carry yourself, the way you talk to people around you, the way you dress. I’ve seen how you behave with your family and how you are with strangers. I’ve seen how you set boundaries and how you are with people you don’t even like. I can’t say it all but there’s this thing you have that I want my daughter to have.”

He spoke at length, say 5 minutes of saying really cool things about me. I mean, what you see up there weren’t exactly his words but I’m sure you have an idea of what he said. He then began to tell me how he wished his daughter could emulate my steps. That made my face actually light up. I think that’s definitely one of the kindest things someone has ever said to me.

He said his daughter was now in senior high school and had befriended certain friends who were leading her on the wrong path. Honestly, I wanted to tell him I went through the same thing in senior high school before eventually finding myself, but I didn’t want to dim the fireworks he was seeing in me.

I told him his daughter would definitely be even better than me and of course, he could allow her come to my place anytime. I don’t think I’ve ever mentored anyone consciously. I’ve heard people tell me how impactful I’ve been in their lives, but it never started as me being their mentor. I don’t even know how this will go, but let’s see.

When I hear words like these about myself, I feel terrible about how I kept looking down on myself for so long. I knew I wasn’t perfect but then I was also far from the things I used to think of myself. Well, I’m glad I know better now. As I said, this is definitely one of the kindest things I’ve heard from someone, and anytime I think of it, I can’t help but smile. I’ll definitely keep it in my diary for as long as possible.