Originally published in March 20, 2020 ~ Jacob M Hansen

I was mingling in the crowd, shaking hands and accepting congratulations when a girl pulled me to the side.

“Thank you,” Grace said in a quiet, yet direct voice.

“Of course!” I replied, “Thanks for being brave enough to get on that stage.”

“No, I really mean it.” I heard her voice tremble. “I was planning to end my life tonight. Now I’m not going to.”

My jaw dropped.

The impact of what she had said didn’t fully sink in until the crowds had vacated the auditorium, we had tipped the A/V guy and our team had disbanded for the night. As I drove home, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the fact that my actions had so dramatically changed someone’s life.

I was a seventeen-year-old with a dream to bring hope and happiness to my peers. A few months prior, some friends and I had started an organization devoted to empowering teenagers through motivational seminars, conferences and school assemblies. Our fledgling organization stood out because—from the speakers to the staff to the administrators—it was completely run by youth. Our goal was to inspire our friends by living the message we preached.

To our delight, people of all ages responded well to our idea. The result was tonight’s monumental event: almost two hundred people had gathered for our debut, ninety-minute seminar on making a difference when you’re young. Not only did the event kickstart a new movement, but it convinced me to dedicate the following years to becoming a motivational speaker for youth. On top of that, our message had saved a girl’s life.

It was a lot to take in as I drove home. I hadn’t set out to be a hero—I just wanted to do good. Apparently, that had been enough.

I got in contact with Grace after the event and she told me her story: As a child, Grace earned the nickname “Sunshine” for the cheerful and loving spirit she carried wherever she went. She prided herself on her ability to help other people and bring smiles to those around her.

When she entered middle school, however, her life took a turn for the worst. For reasons she couldn’t understand, the other kids in the school began to bully her. At first, she brushed off their comments and kept smiling. As the months wore on, the bullying intensified and Grace began to lose hope—cyberbullying prevented her from finding respite even at home. With time it seemed to her that her own teachers had begun siding with the bullies. At the age of sixteen, she decided she couldn’t go on any longer.

“I hate my sunshine!” Grace sobbed to her mom one afternoon.

Though no one knew it, she planned to kill herself that very night. Grace felt like she would never be good enough, that people didn’t like the happy person she was deep down and that any dreams she had of changing the world were as good as dead. She figured she might as well be dead too.

It was then that Grace remembered that she had been planning to attend a seminar that evening—one run exclusively by teenagers like herself. She didn’t want to go anymore, but decided to anyway. A part of her hoped and prayed that someone would find a reason to keep living.

Though I didn’t know what she was going through, I happened to be in the right place and the right time to give Grace her miracle: in the middle of the seminar I was giving a presentation and asked for a volunteer to join me on stage and talk about something they were struggling with. Grace’s hand shot up.

Grace told us about the bullies and her feelings of worthlessness. She told us that she had come to hate her sunshine. In front of hundreds of people, I put my arm around Grace and told her that she was in fact loved, worthy and capable of any dream, no matter how large. I reminded her that she had a choice; she could choose to share her love with the world or let others suffocate it. Many in the room shed quiet tears as we spoke.

I asked Grace if she was ready to make a new, better choice. With some coaxing, she raised the microphone to her lips and boldly declared:

“I am enough and I can change the world!”

The crowd erupted and Grace returned to her seat amidst a standing ovation. From that day forward, she has chosen to love her sunshine.

Grace’s story has touched many people, myself included.

After the seminar, she joined our event team and soon began telling her story from the stage. I had the privilege of working closely with Grace over the next two years and of watching her heal her life and inspire others to choose to live. She and I have become fast friends.

My dream is to bring these types of life-changing experiences to young people all over the world. To that end, I’ve published two books and spoken at over fifty events—but I’m just getting started. I’m studying at college so that I can better teach and mentor youth. My finances are often tight because speaking to youth doesn’t pay well and I volunteer to speak for free at most events. This doesn’t worry me, because I’ve learned that serving others is a priceless feeling—the more I give, the better my life is.

Putting on the event where I met Grace was very challenging for me and the rest of our team. But when I think of what might have happened had we not done so, I realize that I’ll forever be grateful that I did something scary and uncomfortable for the benefit of other people.