We all need champions

St Francis Bay freelance journalist Beth Cooper writes about the importance of having a champion to constantly motivate you in your life, in her weekly column Woman on Top

On my birthday this month, a friend’s gift reminded me how much my encouragement and belief in her fabulosity meant to her, especially on bad days, or sad days.

It’s true that what people need most is to be held up, not broken down. Gossip and negative idle chatter chip at the links in our chains of confidence, wearing us, making us take as fact another’s smarmy, ill-informed opinion or perception. And we’ve all done it – though we’d be the first to deny this, particularly when we’ve been the target of cheap talk.

My friend’s compliment reminded me of why being – or having – a champion in your or someone else’s life, rather than a put-downer, is as crucial as good health and sound sleep.

I once was a guest on a well-known local TV show aimed at pregnant people and parents. One of the things I’ve learned about television is that even if there’s a script, there isn’t a script. You may think that we know what we’re doing up there, but more often than not, we don’t. And sometimes, that’s the best way to discover a valuable life lesson.

Sam Cowen asked me: ‘What is the best advice that you’d give a mom wanting to breastfeed?’ I knew that she was going to ask this and I had rehearsed a measured, informed response.

Instead, I raised my arm in the air, leaned forward and became emotional. I said: ‘Ask yourself – who is my champion? You just need one person to be that champion! With a champion, you know, even in your darkest moments, that someone – that one person – has your back.’