My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of my head. 

It took me a while to get wind of the fact that I had just been slapped in the face. Hard. 

With my right hand on my right cheek and my eyes closed, I instantly remembered I was still in front of the rest of the class. 

Immediately, my socks felt wet in my school shoes.

Then the teacher yelled, "She has even wee'd!" 

The words echoed in my ears, and the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I had peed my pants. 

I don't know if it was a direct result of the slap or if my bladder just had no incentive to keep holding waste water.

"Get out of here. Dirty girl," she exclaimed, and with that, she shoved me out of the class.

This was the first time I felt "self-esteem shattering" embarrassment. 

As I grew older, that experience never left me. 

Every step I took, I unknowingly carried the weight of that moment, the ridicule, and the disgusted stares.

The damage to my self-esteem lingered, shaping my interactions and choices as I grew older.

Then middle school.

I struggled so much with making friends and speaking up. The memory of that day colored every social interaction.

One day, our school invited a man to speak to us, students. 

I don't remember much of his speech but I'll never forget how he made us repeat the words "I am powerful" three times. 

Those words made no sense to me at the time, but that's all I went away with. 

I remember how I would always ruminate over those words. I am powerful.

Powerful how? Powerful where? Powerful as what?

My mind came up blank. 

Welp. I tried.

Then something happened.

I dont know why but some how, I had a resolve to say those words to myself often, even though no one told me to do so.

As an adult looking back, I realize that I might have been trying to rediscover the fearlessness that resides in the child-like mind. 

As a child, I harbored no fears or limitations.

I yearned to rediscover that untainted, fearless spirit. 

I succeeded. Yes I did.

I think of some of the most daring things I have done in my adult life and I cannot thank God enough for that little speech back in middle school.

Why did I even bother sharing this?

Here's why

⬇️

Don't sit on your story, or your gifts or that one little speech that can potentially change the trajectory of one person's life. 

Get cracking on sharing whatever it is you need to share. It can and will have lasting positive effects that are beyond your reach or imagination.

That man definitely does not remember me. Heck, I don't even remember his name.

But the words he said stayed with me.