Can One Person Create Change? (Monday Moments ep. 263)
Live Inspired Podcast with John O'Leary
John O'Leary
4.9 • 672 Ratings
🗓️ 15 June 2020
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Join me every Monday for a quick burst of inspiration on our “Monday Moment” segments.
Today I share a story of one of my heroes, Amy Crawford. Amy is a 5th-grade teacher who has a profound way of elevating the kids in her classroom and inspiring others to recognize the meaning and power within their work.
Cleaning her classroom before leaving for the weekend, Amy found a remarkable poem that would soon change her life. This poem was written by one of her troublesome students.
I Am The Piece That Never Fits
I am the piece that never fits.
I wonder why people hate me for who I am
I hear the cry of loneliness that comes from me
I see my sad, strange, different self in the mirror
I want someone on my side
I am the piece that never fits.
I pretend that words can never hurt me
I feel the urge to run away from myself
I touch the wet tear from my eye-rolling down my face
I worry my future will be me, myself, and I
I cry because I am the cheese; everyone is the mouse
I am the piece that never fits.
I understand that no one likes me
I say that there is no place for people like me in the world
I dream of a place where I actually fit in
I try to make new friends,
And I hope to, but still
I am the piece that never fit.
In time, with love, with grace, with intentional focus, by surrounding him with supportive friends and introducing him to new mentors, the little author of the poem began to fit in. And it all began with one person. One person.
Today, he’s a college graduate, gainfully employed, happily married, and passionate about life. Without a doubt, he most certainly fits.
If you're looking to start making a difference, certainly start at home. I also encourage you to become involved with an organization that changed my family's lives: Big Brothers Big Sisters. I recently interviewed my Little Brother Travion House on Live Inspired Podcast ep. 260. Listen to how a 10-year-old boy taught me resiliency, courage + love.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to Monday morning motivation with John O'Leary. |
| 0:10.1 | I record these so that you may begin your week on fire and and in awe with a burst of inspiration. |
| 0:19.4 | And my friends, I think during these days, as we step halfway through |
| 0:23.4 | June, we need to be inspired. We need to be inspired that there's reason for hope that one person |
| 0:28.9 | can change the world and that the best days remain in front of us. In an evening conversation, |
| 0:36.1 | Friday night just a couple days ago, I was having a conversation with a dear friend |
| 0:39.7 | who said I just don't think one person can make a difference I mean where do we even begin where do we even begin |
| 0:46.2 | we were of course talking about protests and inequalities and injustice and all the challenges that we face as a society |
| 0:53.7 | as a nation as nations nations, as individuals. |
| 0:57.4 | Sir, where do you begin? Where do we begin? Well, my friends, I'm going to encourage you to recognize |
| 1:02.8 | the very first place to always begin. And it's a lesson that I was taught years ago by a friend |
| 1:08.2 | of my name, Amy Crawford. Amy Crawford is a school teacher in Tennessee. |
| 1:13.4 | She's an amazing lady. She was teaching middle school. Pretty good class, pretty great kids, |
| 1:19.2 | except there was one child that was presenting all kinds of challenges to Miss Amy. She was kind of |
| 1:26.2 | riding this one off because there was nothing she could do |
| 1:29.9 | to get through to this little boy. He was difficult to teach. He wanted nothing to do with the |
| 1:34.9 | class. He was rude not only to other classmates. He was rude to the teacher herself. |
| 1:40.9 | So it's easy when you have a child like this to push them farther and farther away. |
| 1:46.8 | It's very commonplace. |
| 1:47.9 | I get it. |
| 1:48.6 | Maybe you do as well. |
| 1:49.9 | And so that's what Amy began doing. |
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