Here's a message I received from a Facebook Friend - and not that long ago. This message was completely unexpected, and simply popped into my email inbox with no explanation or accompaniment. Here is the message I received, just as I received it:
You may not always see it, but your presence in this world has left ripples far beyond what you know.
Someone still smiles at a memory you created together, still feels comforted by the kindness you once showed, and still finds courage in the words you spoke.
Someone hums a song that reminds them of you, sees beauty in the world because you pointed it out, and carries your wisdom in their heart.
Someone stands a little taller because you believed in them, walks a little lighter because you were there, and dreams bigger because you told them they could.
You matter more than you realize...
As I think you'll agree, this was a pretty nice message to receive, especially since so unanticipated. It really came out of thin air, with no immediate provocation being apparent. Naturally, I wrote back my thanks for such a nice note, and I said, in my reply, that this was, in fact, a message that could (and perhaps should) be addressed to everyone. It's a lovely message, and a message meant for each one of us. Every one of us matters more than we realize.
I do think that's true, but my friend's response was immediate. Here is what my friend said:
Take It Personally
That, too, was a very nice message to receive, and I think my friend was letting me know something that we all sometimes forget: We are each very important, and we should never allow ourselves to let that slip from our mind.
Ugo Betti, a Judge, and an acclaimed Italian playwright, put it this way (emphasis added):
That's what's needed, don't you see? That! Nothing else matters half so much. To reassure one another. To answer each other. Perhaps only you can listen to me and not laugh. Everyone has, inside himself ... what shall I call it? A piece of good news! Everyone is ... a very great, very important character! Yes, that's what we have to tell them up there! Every man must be persuaded - even if he is in rags - that he's immensely, immensely important!
- The Burnt Flower-Bed
That quotation is one that I have published in this blog before (on March 25, 2010, more than fifteen years ago). This is a quotation that I provided to every one of the students I taught at UCSC, on the last day of class. That quotation was something to send them off with, a reminder very much like the reminder that my friend sent to me.
So, read over the message my friend sent me, one more time. Read over the words of Ugo Betti. And....
Take It Personally
Foundation of Freedom
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