I’m small. Really small. To be exact, I’m 143 cm or 4 foot 9. Yep, not even 5 foot tall.
People constantly tell me I look like I’m a child, children point and stare and I can never reach the food in the supermarket if it’s above the third shelf.
So when I met Mr Matt Preston a.k.a Mr Super Tall, you can imagine my feeling of dwarf-ness next to him! He’s a big personality too (he’s a cook, food critic and Master Chef Australia judge).
After being introduced, I opened our conversation with “I have to apologise Matt, I normally wear my platform high heels when I am in the company of someone so tall, but today it wasn’t possible.”
It was a joke, an attempt at breaking the ice, but also something I now realise I am always conscious of.
He suddenly became stern. In my mind, I though I had possibly offended him by mentioning his great height.
He kindly bent down to my eye level (that’s a long way down for him mind you) and said to me “Don’t ever apologise for being who you are. You are you, embrace your height and embrace who you are” he said.
“Coming from someone who is not normal height himself, trust me when I say your size doesn’t matter”.
Two sentences which changed my whole mindset in the space of 30 seconds.
One person and their advice has the ability to make someone’s day and change their direction.
You do have to be open to listening though. You have to listen out for these life changing moments. We all get busy, and people certainly do say life changing things to us. Sadly, Â it’s easy to not be able to hear them through the noise and clatter of life.
We each have the ability to say two sentences to a person to help them, make them happy, show them direction or cheer them up.
So, the lesson is:
Embrace who you are
Don’t apologise for who you are
Listen for life changing moments
You have the power to create life changing moments for other people.
Has someone given you life changing advice? Would love to hear from you.
I’m a 6’1.5″ woman and have never apologised for it. I absolutely love it (except when it comes to finding jeans long enough). I have no idea how that came about but I’m guessing it’s related to the fact that even though the other mums at my kinder told mine to put me on growth hormone retardant medication mum told them to jam it. I’m so glad she did. The only thing I apologise for is needing people to speak up because I’m so tall 🙂 Don’t apologise. Own it!
“Don’t apologise. Own it!” This. I LOVE IT! I don’t know you, but you are one cool chick. I am seriously going to try to live this out. Thank you!
Ha! Thanks Mia! Thanks for reading and all the best
Beautiful post! I recently watched the TED talk called ‘Embrace the Shake’ .I think your under 5 foot height might just be a serious asset!
Love this post! No apologies for how we are created ever needed. I got to met Matt myself and was also struck by his humble good nature and ability to connect… Good man. Good post. Good message.
I love this! I’ve only just gotten used to my own height. Sure sometimes I feel way too tall and gangly, but if I don’t mention it, others don’t usually notice 😉
So true VM! To be honest I didn’t perceive you as too tall nor gangly! And that’s coming from the short and chunky! They are simply names we label ourselves with but not necessarily how others perceive us 🙂
Amazing! That gave me goose bumps! So simple and so lovely.
Thanks for reading Megan!
matt .. Saw U in Paris approx 2 wls ago. Lived & worked U.K for 10 years, but haven’t been in Paris for 6 or so. Please advise some of your ‘treasures’, will go to Avance,, but some little of your faves would be great . Please reply, Cherie T.
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Hi Cherie, Just to let you know Matt didn’t write this article.
Yes saw him on Mchef showing two people around & wanted a few similar little tips for different bread, cheese, lunchspots etc. Tks. Miss U mob already. Tks, Cherie.
I don’t know how I came across this post, but I love what you’ve written! What great advice from someone like Matt who seems to have it all, so thanks!
It was a special moment for me Mia, and hope it has inspired you too.
Lunch spots, please Matt. Cherie