PAYING IT FORWARD

One Saturday while waiting for my son to go to dinner, I decided to play with a puzzle. A little white girl came over to me and asked me if she could help me with the puzzle. I agreed to accept help. She tried to help for awhile. Then she gave up. She said, “I think this puzzle is too hard.”

“It is difficult, but not impossible,” I answered. “There is nothing that you cannot do if you try your best. Just try your best,” I said.

She continued. When she did well or got a piece to fit, I praised her and told her how smart she and capable she was.

She ran over to her father at one point and I could hear her telling him that she was helping the lady and the lady told her that she was smart and pretty. Then she ran back to me to help with the puzzle. I could hear her talking to herself. “It is difficult, but not impossible.”  She kept repeating this to herself.  Then she would run over to her father and tell him that she was helping and the lady says that I am doing good.  This pattern continued for awhile.  Finally, she had to leave.

After she left, I remembered similar episodes with my son. I remembered when he thought math was impossible.  I told him that nothing was impossible for him. He had to learn the rules and understand the principles and he could do anything. He became an excellent math student because he believed in himself.  He believed that nothing was impossible. Some MIT professors and a professor at UT/Austin helped with a computer and a company agreed to buy his game when he was only eight years old.  I felt that spending this afternoon with this little girl and trying to give her confidence in herself and the belief that she could do anything if she set her mind to it and tried was PAYING IT FORWARD!!!

Helen                 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED