Never forget how you made them feel

Her name is Judith and she’s a teacher, trainer and leader. To this day when I think of her, I smile.

She buys some of her clothes and household furnishings at thrift stores.

She wears colorful pantsuits from pastels to neon.

Her signature lipstick is bright red.

Her smile is always large and infectious. Sometime her teeth even wear that bright red lipstick.

Her hair, jet black, also sports a streak of fuchsia.

In Judith’s presence, you feel good. She is one of those people you crave to be around because there’s this positive energy, light and aura.

There are no games, bullying, favoritism, toxic behavior, pretentiousness, feelings of entitlement or power trips. That stuff is not in her being or vocabulary. Actually, she wouldn’t know what to do with any of those.

Nor are there demeaning responses or questions or even tone of voice. Stupid question? Never.

There is no making you feel small and enjoying it; only tall and enjoying it.

Her time is your time. And if it’s limited in the least bit, she will make time and then wondrously and unbeknownst to you, work to make your weak things strong.

When you leave Judith’s presence, you want to do and be better. Somehow, even her nonverbal behavior instills confidence, not to mention her words like “You can do anything" and “I believe in you.” Judith’s verbal and nonverbal behavior is congruent; she’s essentially speaking the same language through both mediums. For example, you never have to worry from day to day if you are going to be the “good” or “bad” guy.

Judith is loyal beyond measure. If you share something with her — even if you didn’t ask her to keep it in confidence — she’ll do it anyway because she believes in doing the right thing.

She is genuine, kind and loves you — the Christ-like kind — even if she’s only known you for a few minutes.

American poet Maya Angelou (2010) said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

To Judith and people like her, thank you. Your impact is immeasurable.

We truly will never forget how you made us feel. Nor will generations to come.

Cynthia Kimball is a professional speaker, trainer and doctoral student in workforce education leadership. Her column, "Every1Counts," appears weekly on deseretnews.com and in Deseret News. She can be reached at kimball@every1counts.net.