She was the frumpy-looking 47-year old who took the world by storm. When Scottish singer Susan Boyle first took to the stage to audition for Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, the judges and audience sneered. Chances are you saw the video; you, me and 100-million others. It went viral on You Tube and within days Susan Boyle was an international, internet singing sensation.
If you haven’t seen the video, watch it. If you have seen it, watch it again. It’s a great study on judgmentalism and dreams.
Watch the young woman in the audience roll her eyes. Watch Simon Cowell’s reaction when Boyle tells him her age. Each time she opens her mouth to speak the jeering in the audience grows louder and the judges’ skepticism grows stronger. The audience outright laughs when Boyle says her dream is to become a successful professional singer like “Elaine Paige” (who, on this side of the pond, had heard of the English singer/actress Paige before Boyle mentioned her name?). Yes, judgements were flying in Glasgow that night and then something amazing happened…Susan Boyle opened her mouth and she sang.
Suddenly all those years she spent taking acting and voice lessons, singing in her church choir and performing karaoke in her town’s local pub came together in one magical moment. That night, preparation met opportunity and Susan Boyle’s dream took flight.
That dream carried Boyle to Atlanta on Sunday, on the final leg of her first U.S. concert tour. I had the pleasure of being there, along with some other folks from Habersham, and I can tell you firsthand Susan Boyle is still quirky, still down to earth and her voice is still simply amazing. More than once her vocals on songs such as “The Way We Were,” “Wild Horses,” “The Impossible Dream,” “Oh, Happy Day” and her signature rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” brought us to our feet. It was 2-hours of pure delight, and though she didn’t hit every note perfectly, she filled Atlanta Symphony Hall with happiness. We cheered her for her talent but also for her inspirational story.
Susan Boyle is a village girl from Scotland who grew up being told she had a learning disability (she reportedly has since been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism). She was bullied in school, spurned in love, remained steadily unemployed, lived with her parents and devoted her adult life to caring for her aging mother. When her mother passed away Boyle mustered the courage to audition for Britain’s Got Talent as a way to honor her. When she stepped onto that stage back in 2009 it appeared as though she didn’t have much to offer the world except a hapless history and far-flung dreams. And then, she sang.
Susan Boyle’s story was a reminder to all of us in that sold-out crowd in Atlanta last night about the strength and triumph of the human spirit: A reminder to people everywhere that we should believe in ourselves even when the world doesn’t.
But how many of us do?
It’s hard to look in the mirror with confidence when you hear the world saying you’re worthless. Maybe you’re unemployed, failing in school, involved in a bad relationship, financially poor, physically challenged, spiritually empty or demoralized by unrealized dreams. Whatever your circumstance I assure you, you’re not alone. Our community is full of people wishing their lives were different. But wishing and dreaming alone won’t cut it. You have to act.
Susan Boyle did and look where it got her. She’s sold over 19 million albums worldwide, won two Grammy awards, performed for the Queen of England and continues to move and delight audiences around the globe.
Earlier this month I had the privilege of delivering the commencement address at North Georgia Technical College’s GED graduation ceremony in Mt. Airy. Fifty high school dropouts of various ages achieved what many thought they never would – they got their diploma and, with it, renewed hope for a better tomorrow. Irene Ensley of Fannin County was among them. Ensley spent twelve years working to earn her general equivalency diploma. Twelve years! She could have quit and settled for the lot life had handed her but she didn’t. She had a dream and she worked to achieve it. Today, Ensley is in her second semester at NGTC working toward a degree in accounting. She’s working for the day when preparation meets opportunity. The day when her new dream takes flight.
I’ll tell you as I told those graduates:
If there was ever a time in life when you felt unworthy…If there was ever a time you felt yourself less than or not as much as you would like to have been…LET IT GO. Let go of your insecurities and low self-esteem. Let go of those things in the past that held you back. Let go of any excuses you might have used for not achieving what it is you want to achieve in this life. Let those things go and let tonight be a new beginning. See yourself as you truly are….WORTHY.
I wrote and believe every word of it. I see the evidence of dreams well played and well lived in the likes of Irene Ensley and Susan Boyle. They dreamed a dream and now they are living it. What’s stopping you? Maybe it’s time to step out onto that stage and risk it all for one moment of magic. As the author Earl Nightingale wrote, “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” It’s your life, your dream…now live it!
More photos of last night’s Susan Boyle concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall in Atlanta:
