You Matter

What Scrubs Taught Me About Happiness.

I just finished watching the final episode of Scrubs. The main character, J.D., was preparing to leave the hospital he’s been working at for 8 years and he was desperate for a grand gesture by his co-workers that would confirm he’d be missed.

He wanted to be told so badly he matters.

Sound familiar? Who doesn’t want to know they matter?

He carries this craving right up until the end when he has a breakthrough (timed beautifully for the final five minutes of the episode).

As he exits the hospital, he “sees” the images of all the patients and workers he affected throughout his time at the hospital. They are all lined showing him the full impact of his presence at the hospital.

And he is happy. Finally happy.

Oh, it’s enough to make a girl cry. In fact it does.

I see it all the time. Clients who just can’t get happy. Who can’t go after that next big thing because they can’t even dream up what the next big thing could be. And underneath all that stuck is the same deep dark need J.D. clung to, the need to know “I matter.”

But just like J.D., we are rarely offered the grand gestures that confirm we matter. That “seeing,” that knowing, must come from inside. It requires taking in all the little gestures and adding them up to create our own “I matter montage.” Because something really magical happens once we do.

It happened to JD…

As he walks to the door with all this new “I matter” awareness, he starts to see his future. His big, bright beautiful future played out before him like a movie.

Yup, it’s enough to make a girl cry.

And by the way, it’s not just a storyline. The moment a client stops waiting for someone else to tell her she matters and sees it for herself, it is tear-making beautiful.

Once you stop looking back its really hard not to see how freakin’ great the future can be!

And for your viewing pleasure: The J.D. future montage: