So, Who Are Those People?

In the seventeen years that I have been working as a Motivational Speaker and Trainer, I have established a career dedicated to helping individuals who either want to, or are sometimes in dire need of, making life change. The thousands of people I have served come from all walks of life.  I have provided programs for professional associations, businesses, state and county governmental agencies, non-profits, schools colleges, universities, children in foster care, teen parents and numerous shelters and programs designed to assist and aid the homeless, addicted, mentally ill, victims of domestic violence and other under-served groups.

I can state with perfect certainty that I have thoroughly enjoyed working with every group of people I have encountered during these years.  After all.  I am a people person.  I would believe that any of my peers who provide speeches, seminars, workshops or coaching must be that sort of individual.  Connecting with people is what we do.  In order for us to be effective, we must build that connection.

Often human nature leads some, or perhaps many, of us to make assumptions about others based on any number of factors.  These  include: Appearance (including dress, piercings, tattoos), employment, education, ethnicity, age, community and others.  And once again, human nature often insures that upon making an assessment of another person based on the above criterion, especially if it is viewed with negativity, we might then hear this comment:  "Wow!  Would you look at those people!", or "What's wrong with those people?"

So the question becomes;  "Who are those people?"

Many people believe the answer is this; "Those people are not us!"

In my years of providing services, many of the individuals I have served are "those people".  When viewed through the eyes of others, perhaps they are seen as "those people" because the fear of "those people" being even a little like us is all too great.  Because if they are even a bit like us, then perhaps we could become like them.  In other words, maybe we could become "those people" too.

For whatever reason, "those people" are the people I most love.  And the dilemma for me is the fact that sometimes they are the most difficult to love.

In my view, "those people" are the individuals who most often do not have a seat at the banquet of life.  They are the ones pressing their noses against the window pane, watching as others feast.

"Those people" are the homeless, the hopeless, the addicted, the mentally ill.  They are the victims of domestic violence trapped in a world of unspeakable terror, fear and silence.  "Those people" are the victims of unaddressed sexual assault or any other form of abuse.  They are the individuals raised in homes where no one cares, where little love and compassion have been shown.  They are the children shuttled from foster home to foster home.  "Those people" are the disenfranchised, the marginalized, the voiceless.

My hope is to help flesh-out who "those people" really are.  They are not the faceless and nameless.  They are people who perhaps had, or still have, hopes, dreams, and goals.  They are not statistics.  They are not check marks on lists.  They are not invisible.  They are not "those people".  They are us.