[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMLOnSNwzA&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344]

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are we not to be?” – Marianne Williamson

When I was 10 years old, I was in Mr. Oakley’s fourth grade class at Stony Brook School. I sat at my small wooden desk, stuck between John Acarose and Kenny Bacon, boys who used to tease me and pull my hair mercilessly.

At 10 years old, I entered the school spelling bee, served on the safety patrol and learned how to play the “tonette”, a small, plastic, introductory woodwind instrument that my kids call a recorder.

When I was 10 years old, I learned long division, did reading packets and learned New Jersey state history. On a class trip to the state capitol, I got car sick. Walking up the State House steps, dressed in a yellow pinafore that my mother made for me, I unceremoniously threw up at the feet of New Jersey State Senator Raymond Bateman. It wasn’t pretty. Fearful that it might happen again, I spent the remainder of the class trip attached to Mr. Oakley, holding his hand and feeling very foolish. Oh yes. I remember being 10 all too well.

When I was 10 years old, I wasn’t doing this.

Some of us embrace our greatness when we are very young. We have families that support us. Teachers that encourage us. Homes that give us shelter. Food that nourishes us. Lives that have enough.

And then there are those who are slow to come by their greatness. Slow to realize that they can … “be anything, create anything, dream anything, become anything.” There are those who must find their own path. Alone. Wandering in the wasteland of their lives, they have burned their bridges, lost their way. Unable to understand, families have turned their backs. Teachers have given up. For those who wander, there is no place to call home, their souls buried under years of drugs and alcohol.

And yet, they are in there, somewhere.

I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into the homeless shelter for the first time. Although I had dedicated the better part of my professional life in service to the poor and disenfranchised, this was different. Though I did not admit it out loud, there was a part of me that was nervous. Unsure. Worried about what I would find.

What I found surprised me.

A computer programmer. A nurse. A musician or two. A contractor. Mothers and fathers, husbands, wives and grandparents. People like you and me.  People who had lost their way.

Until they found someone to believe in them.

We all need someone to believe. To hold the hope. To see what we can become. To help us embrace our greatness.

We can be that someone. We are that someone.

“Here’s the deal… I can do anything, Be anything, Create anything, Dream anything, Become anything... Because you believe in me.” - Dalton Sherman