Be the Spark: Speak Belief into Someone’s Future

Be a prophet in the life of someone younger than you.

In her book, The Power of Positive Prophecy, Laurie Jones provides an account of how one person’s word had a lasting impact on another:

“I grew up in an alcoholic household where I never heard a positive word. On my way home from school, I would always stop in at Jimmy’s, the local dry cleaner, because he kept candy at the counter. He got to know me, and told me one afternoon: ‘Michael, you are a very smart boy. Someday, you are going to run a very big business.’

I would listen to him in disbelief and return home only to get called a ‘dog’ and knocked around by my dad. But you know … Jimmy the dry cleaner was the only person I can remember believing in me. Today, I run a multimillion dollar health care organisation, just like Jimmy predicted. I guess you could say that a dry cleaner was the prophet in my life.”

If you see someone with talent, say so – urge them to fulfill their potential. It’s often the very spark they need.

Words of affirmation – confidently declared by someone other than a parent – can seed self-belief and sprout greatness.