One day, I stood in front of a group of professional women to give a motivational talk. About seventy sets of eyes stared back at me as I spoke. I cautiously previewed the room. Did they laugh at my jokes? Did they wince at my delicate stories? Did they smile at my encouragement?

It is very difficult to analyze an audience’s emotions when you are speaking, but you can see the overall body language of the group. I felt confident that I was doing a good job. Attendees smiled, clapped, nodded, and paid attention, which are all good signs when you are a speaker. The most incredible thing is that you never know how you are going to impact the lives of the listeners.

Not, that is, unless they let you know.

I loved that day, when I was speaking to this group of women. I was able to share some of my martial art stories and use my magical metaphor about how we are all presented with “board break moments” in our lives every day. I shared my favorite green belt story about when I had to break a board for the first time, and how it took three tries until I succeeded. The whole key was to finally believe in myself, and then I crashed through with little effort.

Then, I presented the group with a single challenge. I needed someone to step up and break a wood board.  A woman volunteered, and pummeled through it with a palm struck. A smile widened across her face with delight. It was the magical moment, when she realized she was far more than she ever knew.

You have a speck of greatness inside, just waiting to be defined and improved.

After the seminar, there was a pretty table set up in the back. I sold and signed books, shook hands, and chatted with the women. They were happy, inspired, and somehow, relieved to know that they, too, had greatness on the inside. Some learned a lot about themselves. They saw that board as a demon that they never realized that they could overcome.

Not long after the seminar, I received a message from a woman who said she had been struggling with her own self-esteem and depression. She was one of the faces in the seminar that I missed. Among the smiles and polite nods of agreement, she felt tears stream down her face.

She told me that she suddenly realized that she had never given herself the chance to be happy. After hearing my talk, she wanted more than anything to change her life, reach her potential, and have confidence.

She then told me more, the shocking  truth of what almost happened that day when she went home.

After the seminar, she went home, opened her nightstand drawer and stared inside. She reached in and pulled out a revolver. It fit comfortably in her hand. She put it up to her temple. She thought about it. Her tears streamed, and her thoughts flowed. She wondered if she could ever find happiness.

Then, it dawned on her that the splattered blood left behind from a suicide would make a mess for her husband to clean up. She put the gun away. She decided she would try, with help, to find a way to never think about using that gun in this way ever again.

I cannot take credit for changing her life, or even saving it. It is simply a lesson about being in the right place at the right time. She needed to  hear my message right then, at that moment, in that time.

This is a reminder of the power of your words and actions. If you think that what you say or do does not make any difference, you are wrong. While you may not be giving a speech in front of a group of people, you do have incredible power in what you say, how you say it, and to whom you say it.

Someone’s life may be teetering, and you will never know that your words may give them the speck of hope for something as monumental as life itself.

That day was special. In fact, it was a day that I will never forget. I never expected to have touched a woman’s life in such a profound way. But, that is what happened. That, friends, is what we do as martial artists. We touch lives in a profound way. We should never forget that or take it for granted.

The next talk that I give, I will scan the audience more closely. There may be someone with tears flowing while everyone else is smiling. That is when I will know that I truly made a difference.

xoxo

Andrea

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Pick up one of my motivational and inspiring books!

https://goo.gl/Yco5GF – Martial Art Inspirations for Everyone

https://goo.gl/rTSaJA – The Martial Arts Woman book