Damaged Goods

Have a look around you.

Do you see that person walking towards you? Or the person singing in the car beside you? Or the person sitting next to you at work?

There are more people than you realise, who struggle to breathe, to make it to the end of the day, to get through this life.

Who live with some form of mental illness.

Who nevertheless rise above their condition every single day… to perform daring deeds, great acts of service, or gratuitous acts of kindness.

Who lead teams with honour and integrity. Who play the game with skill and flair. Who create extraordinary works that make men cry.

Who impact and transform lives and cities and nations.

Who nonetheless are damaged goods because they dared to tell someone about their condition.

Who are now considered a little less capable, a little less like a winner, a little less likeable, a little less…

How do I know this? Because I am damaged goods.

I am that person who needs you to sometimes take the first step and ask how I’m going, and then stick around long enough to hear the answer.

Who needs you to be patient, and show a little grace. Who needs you to NOT write me off, or get irritated and angry at me because I act a little differently to you.

Who needs you to treat me like I still know what I’m doing.

Because here’s the thing… whatever my calling, my career, my vocation, my hobby, my passion — I’m still very good at what I do.

To steal some of the sentiment from a recent Seth Godin article, nurturing and investing in the things that matter needs to be higher on our agenda.

But nurturing and investing in people – even those are seemingly damaged goods – needs to be number one.