The 2017 Academy Awards highlighted many outstanding movies and actors.  Viola Davis won for her role in the movie Fences and in her acceptance speech she said, “You know, there is one place that all the people with the greatest potential are gathered and that’s the graveyard. People ask me all the time — what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories — the stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition, people who fell in love and lost.  I became an artist and thank God I did because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life.”

Every person has a story.  Not all of them are shared, but they are all important.

As Paulo Coelho wrote in The Alchemist, “No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.”

Don’t ever feel like you don’t matter.  You have the power in your thoughts and in your actions to change the world.  People are watching you and you can make a difference.

We have to remember to use our potential now.  And celebrate what it means to live a life.  Each and every day.

Today could be your Oscar moment.  What would you say in your acceptance speech?