Dear Doctor:
Last week, a small but very important voice was silenced – and whether or not the message it carried lives on is up to all of us.
In most homes, I’m guessing that Mattie Stepanek was not a household name. Yet, the poetry of this “disabled” teenage savant spoke clearly to the essence of today’s world.
You see, Mattie was afflicted with a severe neurological disorder that took the lives of his three older siblings. By age three, he realized that he had other issues to deal with than just the typical growing-up stuff – he was already mourning the death of his older brother, and needed an outlet to express his sadness and fear. He turned to writing poems, and demonstrated a miraculous ability to put emotions into words, even then.
It would be remarkable enough if his self-expression stopped there, but he continued to develop his talent, writing five best-selling poetry books by age thirteen, and serving as a source of faith, solace and hope for millions of readers on the Internet and ultimately in their own homes, sharing his wisdom with their own children and using his ideas to help shape their upbringing.
Mattie’s message was simple but not simplistic – “Remember to play after every storm.” Life will have its good times and times that may not seem so good, and we have a choice on how to show up. On the day after 9/11, dark symbol of the current scourge of hatred, he wrote, “Before the future slips away into ashes and dust of humility, stop, be silent, and notice… In so many ways, we are the same. Our differences are unique treasures. We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts, to nurture, to offer, to accept. We need to be. Just be. Be for a moment…kind and gentle, innocent and trusting, like children and lambs, never judging or vengeful like the judging and vengeful. And now, let us pray, differently, yet together, before there is no earth, no life, no chance for peace.” He was ten years old when he selected these words – what insight, and what a role model!
Wise beyond his years, destined for a short, limited little existence in a wheelchair with his family dying all around him, Mattie Stepanek chose a grander vision for his life, and went places and did things most kids would never dare. Dead at thirteen, he left a significant legacy -- he knew that we all have music inside us waiting to be played, music he called “Heartsongs.” Please don’t die with yours left unsung.
Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters Circle
PS Please join us at our third quarter seminar, “Success Systems That Never Fail,” in Chicago July 16-17, in SF August 6-7, and in NJ August 27-28. To register, please visit themasterscircle.com, or just call 800-451-4514. See you there!
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