From Little Girl to President: It’s Just About… Life.

Seems like just yesterday my daughter was running around in diapers with her tight little curls bobbing up and down. How things change. Now she straightens her hair almost every day, dresses more like my wife then a little girl and she has a new title in life…President.

I was going to write a blog today about success vs significance, then late yesterday, Sophie called with some major news. She won. Sophie is President of the National Junior Honor Society at her school. She made this blog easy.

The post is not to brag, yes we are proud, exceedingly proud, who wouldn’t be? Just maybe we are doing something right, but the blog is really about Sophie’s speech. Success vs significance.

Sophie read her speech to my wife Debbie and I a few nights ago. It was hard to focus on everything as she read, her inspiring words, the way she read it, the power point she created to enhance it. In those few moments I recognized just how fast my daughter is growing up. We told her how proud we are of her. She would be competing against four other well-deserving candidates and no matter what, whether she earned the top spot or not, she is a winner.

I know for a fact my daughter rarely reads my blogs, though she will sometimes listen to an inspirational, or motivational CD I pop in the car when we are together. Maybe it sinks in, or maybe she just comes by it naturally… but as you’ll see in a moment, Sophie gets it.

Some of the others who voted for Sophie told her they were inspired by her words. After her speech one of the other presidential candidates even chose to vote for Sophie, instead of voting for herself! Sophie understands while being elected President is an honor, and it shows her to be successful, she can’t be significant unless she inspires others to reach their own potential. That’s what her speech was all about… and it resonated across the room.

Here now, an excerpt from Sophie Brodinsky’s Honor Society Election Speech:
“… besides the facts of what a president must be, more importantly I’m here to talk about what a president like myself must do.

Believe me when I say that everyone in this room has inner potential. Anybody in this school, this state, this country, or even the world has inner potential. But not everyone lets it out. A president should try their best to encourage and inspire people to let out their inner potential so they can contribute their best. I can encourage you to do this. If we are all able to bring out our inner potential we can accomplish any of the goals we set for ourselves this year.

This society is completely a team effort. Yes, the president might be at the top, but every single person is just as important. Every person in here contributes equally to this society. The president’s job is to take the thoughts and ideas of the people here, organize them, and find compromise. The president is simply the guide to organize the brilliant ideas coming from her peers.

What I’m trying to say is that this society is a group effort. And with strong leadership we can accomplish anything. We are a society created to to help our community. And as President, my goal is to guide you to our goal, to do good things for this community.

As you may observe we are all really different. There are some unique individuals (in this society) and some groups of people who share the same interests. Some people come with labels, but in here we pull those labels off, no matter how “sticky”. We come together to appeal to all sorts of people, charities and organizations. As I’ve been saying the amount of potential in this room is overwhelming. And I cannot wait to unlock the potential within you. So my wish today is for you to let me have the honor to do just that. So this year, we can do great things.

Thank you.”

No, thank you Sophie, for making us proud.

Until next time, thanks for taking the time.

Mark

Mark Brodinsky, Author
It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Story
#1 Amazon Best Seller
www.spouses-story.com
markbrodinsky@gmail.com