“I can’t believe they didn’t end the show with Heal the World…”
I was surprised when I felt frustration rush heat all over my body in response to such a simple statement, but it didn’t take me long to understand why.
Did they even watch the show?!? Maybe it’s just me and my obsession with powerful messages, but it seems impossible to me that someone would not see that this man’s entire message was “Heal the World…” But HE knew the secret… And the people continuing his legacy through this show knew it too… That’s why they didn’t end it with “Heal the World”…
“I’m starting with the Man in the Mirror…I’m asking him to change his ways…
…If you want to make the world a better place,
take a look at yourself and make the change…”
He knew that real, long-lasting transformation in the world will not happen simply because we want it to happen. We can all grab our lighters and sway back and forth to the message of “Heal the World” because we really do want to leave it a better place for our children and their children, but it’s not going to happen until we “do the work”.
I thought the way they ended the show was pure genius – “take a look at yourself and make the change” – but as we walked out, I heard several people voicing the same complaint.
It IS a much harder message to digest: Healing the world requires us to heal ourselves first. We want it all to feel good, but it doesn’t. We have to go back to the pain and heal it.
And then my heart started to hurt as I saw how powerfully the message came through him in his work… and confirm what I know and teach about powerful, transformational communication.
He was a wounded healer…
Many of the songs he wrote were heartbreaking. The lyrics oozed the pain of trying to recreate a lost childhood, being misunderstood, and feeling isolated and alone.
He was wounded, and that’s what made him relatable.
And then there were the songs that came from a higher place – that spoke to the higher place in us. “We can change the world. We can change ourselves. We can make a difference. We can be part of something greater than ourselves. We can leave a legacy of love and healing.”
And that’s what he did…
In spite of the tragedies that occurred to him as a child, and in spite of his alleged mistakes and failures to live up to his own message, he left a legacy of love and healing that people will be humming and singing and dancing to for generations to come.
All because he said YES to his message and delivered it powerfully…
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Messages can be extremely powerful, and when coupled with music (a powerful language of the soul), they can truly change our lives IF they do THREE things well:
1) They have to meet the reader/listener/audience where they are at – in whatever pain they are experiencing…
“I’m looking at the Man in the Mirror…I’m asking him to change his ways…”
This is the hard part for most people who want to share their messages. They have to be willing to go back and feel some of that pain again in order for the audiences to connect with them. And sometimes, they have to face and fix message integrity breaches – areas in their lives where they are not living up to their message. If they don’t “do the work”, the books don’t get done and the presentations don’t inspire the audience the way they intended.
2) They have to call to that higher part of the reader/listener/audience to remind them of the true desires – to love, to heal, to be loved, and to be healed…
“If you want to make the world a better place…”
This is the part that EVERY MESSENGER loves – call to that higher part of the audience members, inspire them to dream, and make it impossible for them to ignore their calling.
3) They have to give the reader/listener/audience something to do – some way to put what their hearts and heads have just learned into action – to create lasting change.
“…take a look at yourself and make that change…”
Tools, skills, steps, and questions are powerful ways to move an audience to action, but they are useless without the first two steps. That’s why many of those “How-To” books become good reference guides. The information and steps don’t “stick” without the heart connection.
Thank heavens for powerful messengers in every industry!