Why does Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle resonate with so many people? For me, it is because she is someone who has been dismissed by life. She is 47 years old. She has never been married. She may love her cats a little too much. She is the stereotypical spinster who it seems life has passed by. The type of person the world would sniff at disparagingly if she should raise her head and ask for more than her perceived due. She is the good girl, singing in the choir, taking care of her sick mother. She is the one who the grunt work falls to because after all, what else does she have to do with her time? Life passed her by. She was no longer young, hip, full of potential.
And look at the reaction of the audience as she walked on that stage. A frumpy figure, seemingly past her prime, visibly summoning up her courage in a saucy walk. You can see it in the faces: The utter ridiculousness of the attempt. The eye rolls at the mention of the ancient age of 47. They were expecting a pathetic failure. They dismissed her before she began.
Then she opened her mouth and the rest was history. Was it more thrilling because of the incongruity of her ordinary looks and the passionate power of her voice? It was for me. And I bet it was for many others who belong to the ranks of the ordinary.
How many people feel as if they have missed their chance in life? Feel as if they never got their moment in the sun? Feel consigned to the scrap heap of those who must settle for their lot and be grateful for it?
Yet here comes the modest, unassuming Susan Boyle who knew, deep down, that she could blow that room away. What she didn’t know was that she would blow the world away. This lady made the world stop and take notice.
Every so often, someone comes along and knocks the world on its self-satisfied bum. Susan Boyle, probably one of the most polite people on this earth, cleaned our collective clocks. She wouldn’t be relegated to the scrap heap of “never was.” She saw a chance and grabbed it and shook the world. And she sent a wake up call to everyone who has ever given up on a dream. She reopened the realm of possibility which is where all things magical happen.
Think about the dreams that you have carried and perhaps allowed to wither. Look inside. They are still there, buried right under that nasty thing called common sense. Yes, there, just to the right of “Who do you think you are?” Dig it up. Nurture that flickering hope within you. Let it grow. Don’t listen to all the people who say no to you. Say yes to yourself.
Watch her again here: Dream the Dream
