You is....

Ever since we saw "The Help" I've kept thinking of those words that Abilene repeated over and over to Baby Girl:  "You is kind, you is smart, you is important."  I love that.

IMHO, in today's society we focus too much on other things when we praise the young'uns.  They're pretty, they're princesses, they're good at sports, they're the "best" at something (which always carries the implication that others are losers - not a good message).

How much better to be instilled with the knowledge that one is kind. Kindness is in short supply in this world.  What we are told we are, we tend to become.  How fabulous to be kind.

To be told one is smart - wow - how empowering that is.  Whether one is truly smart or not, if one thinks one is, one can accomplish much more than if one is told they're dumb.

Important!  If I'm important I count!  I mean something.  I'm not just cells taking up space on this earth.

How I've longed my whole life to be important.  (Thanks, My Love for giving me a sense of value!) How lovely it would have been to be told as a youngster that I was kind, that I was smart and that I was important.  Each time I mull those words in my mind, I have a mental picture of that sweet lady tenderly cradling the face of that little girl teaching her very soul her inestimable worth.  What a treasure.

And I'm thinking this should maybe be my new mantra:  I am kind, I am smart, I am important.  Wonder if I can make it be true.