Lessons Learned from the Street: Believe in Yourself

Don’t forget to climb before you get too scared you’ll fall.

Never have truer words been spoken.  And, to think, this phrase came from the street… Sesame Street, that is.

As a child, I loved watching all the monsters, puppets, and learning new and exciting things from everyone’s favorite 6 year old bird, Big Bird, and all of his lovable friends.  Little did I know, me sitting here at 28, watching Sesame Street with my 18 month old niece, I would still be learning stuff from the amazing show, as well as my niece.

Although Sesame Street has been around since 1969, it seems to be one thing out of multitudes of bad trends that has stayed true and loyal to its self throughout the years.  While the new wave Sesame Street shows, with Zoey, Rosita and, of course, Elmo, there is something that is so pure and innocent and overwhelmingly comforting and classic about the first 20 years of Sesame Street.

No matter how hard I try to watch other shows with Lucy, she always twists my arm, and I end up putting that old, loveable Street back on.  Over and over again, we listen to the same songs with different people, different things, different skits, all the same.  There is often that one skit that sticks with you more than any other skit. That one, for me, is the debut of “Believe in Yourself” in 1973, written by Joe Raspo, and sung by none other than the powerhouse diva Diana Ross.

While many, many people have sung this song on Sesame Street since 1973, such as Ray Charles, Michael Buble, and, of course *NSYNC, no one has quite been able to have the impact on me that Diana’s version did.

“Some folks try to tell you
There are things you shouldn’t do
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But what seems right to them
Quite often might be wrong for you,
So be sure you try to climb
Before you get too scared you fall.”

And, with that phrase, just like that, I have learned perhaps the greatest life lesson of all: believe in yourself.

As I sat there with my 18 month old niece, noticing and observing her get frustrated when the square block won’t fit into the circle hole, she is growing up so fast, and soaking in the whole world around her, it dawns on me.

Believe in yourself, Lucy.  You can do this.

I crawl down off the couch and sit with her on the ground, showing her where that square block goes, then giving it to her, and watching her place it in the square hole, all while hearing Diana sing in the background, everything falls into place.

No matter what life throws at you, whether it be a barricade in your life, a break up, a loved one dying, or something as simple as trying to place a square block into a circle hole, just believe in yourself, and never forget to always try.

Don’t forget to climb before you get too scared you’ll fall.