Yesterday I spoke in two school assemblies. One was for a jr high in Paris, TX and the other was a jr high in Hugo, OK.
I know pictures like the one above are good for social media (and my ego) but this other picture is the type I want to print out and hang on my wall to remind me what I'm really doing,
When I'm on stage it's easy for me to focus on who's not paying attention, not taking it seriously, joking with a friend and distracting other people. I can get so caught up with them that I miss the faces in the crowd who are really engaged. But after the assembly those are students who want to come up and talk. They want to tell you what's going on their life, what part really connected with them, and they want to say thank you. It's the best part of speaking at schools.
I know I'm not special. They're not coming up to talk because I'm the greatest speaker who ever lived. It's the message that's special. That's what's connecting with them. I'm just the messenger.
It's nice to hear from them. It's nice to be reminded that the message still needs to be shared.
"You're not alone."