Who Are You Encouraging?

“We can do anything we want to do if we stick with it long enough.” —Helen Keller

When Helen Keller suffered an illness that made her blind and deaf, she gradually adopted animal instincts in order to survive. That is how teacher Anne Sullivan found Helen when she arrived in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to teach the child. What transpired next was a clear example of tough love, leadership, and discipline. Sullivan literally had to fight Helen and attempted to communicate with her through the sensation of touch, the only real sense the youngster still recognized. Week after week, Anne pressed her hand into Helen’s, making symbols with the positions of her fingers against Helen’s palm. She was spelling out words, but to Helen, it made no sense. When Helen finally understood the relationship between the word “water” and the patterns pressed on her palm, Helen remembered, “I was caught up in the first joy I had known since my illness.” Anne was tough on her pupil. “As soon as I knew right from wrong,” Helen wrote, “she put me to bed whenever I committed a misdeed.”

The story of Anne and Helen has become an American wonder, as the physically challenged girl eventually grew up to be one of the brightest minds of her time. Helen became a communicator and a symbol of the power that people have to rise above difficult circumstances, but she did not (could not) do it on her own. Anne Sullivan demanded that her pupil learn beyond all expectations and gave her love and fulfillment in return.

Consider This: Whom are you teaching and encouraging? How are you making them stretch beyond their expectations? What persons are waiting for you to encourage them into discovering their own genius?