Who influences You? There are so many people aren't there? Some are very personal no doubt, and other influences are probably on a more global level.
There are your parents,
Your kids,
(
(A few years ago - and in Disguise! :-)Or
Or your grandparents, a neighbour, a teacher, a friend. Sometimes its a literary figure or someone that takes on the role of a 'hero' in your life. They come into your life, for a moment sometimes, sometimes for a season, sometimes forever, but the one thing that is for sure ....is that you are never the same afterwards.
Here's an interesting exercise to do. Take out a piece of paper or do it on Word. Write out the 25....ok well maybe the 10 people in your life that have had the Biggest Influence on YOU.
Think of them as different doors to your world, your life......People who have knocked, opened, crashed through the doors of your life and impacted your life in a special way...
.
I guarantee...not only will it be thought provoking but it may make you realize - how WE Impact OTHERS.....Sometimes intentionally, other times we don't have a clue that we have had and 'effect' or touched someones life in a certain way.
I always think of Jimmy in its a Wonderful Life -
You just go through your life doing your 'thing'........for the most part being totally 'unconscious' a to the difference you make.
Well I took my own advice and I had to think.....but really you should free flow with the first names that come to mind - rather then try to 'think' it through.....You might be surprised!
Next.....you might want to pick up the phone or send an e-mail to some of those people, and let them know what a 'difference' they've made in your life...... 
You never know, that one 'act' may come at a time in Their life.........when it will make a 'difference'...maybe they were feeling blue or maybe even they were thinking their life had no purpose or meaning.
Your 'acknowledgment' may just shift something for them. :-)
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Ha, ha.......sharon.......very cute! :-)
Liz, this is an area of life I have never neglected. I know exactly who has influenced me along the way and I am trying to touch everyone I come in contact with every day. I am so in tune with this post as far as doing the right things. Completely in lockstep with being conscious and not unconscious in this area. Jimmy Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life is right up there with me with Forrest Gump. I try to be a difference maker and acknowledge difference makers EVERY day. Like YOU are one to me!! ; )
Liz, I can easily write a list of 25. I won't do that right now but there are so many people in my life that have left their "touch" and it stays with me. Not all are still alive today.
But, their finger prints are left on my soul. Thanks for the great post.
Later in the rain~Deb
Liz
Great post, it seems that we tend to forget those who have made a difference in our life. In reading your post the thought came to mind, about the people who have graced my life casually. However momentary the encounter, their impact was immeasurable.
What is it they say about the important things in life? There is a great quote that I can't find on google (gasp - I can find ANYTHING on google!)
Something about what matters is the people we meet, the books we read...Bueller? Can anyone help me now that I am obsessed with finding this quote?
Liz, I like your door analogy. I've opened quite a few doors and some I had to shut right away:-)
Tara - sorry can't help. ferris bueller's day off?
Sam - thats awesome that you have them like that in the forefront of your memory and that you would list them here for us! thanks :-)
Gary - thats great - :-) I wish I could say the same thing, and yet I know there are people I've missed.....I know even now how people come back to my mind, from some place long ago...that I had forgotten.......and that made a difference.........I think I'm a work in progress...:-)
Deb - i love the analogy of 'imprints' on your heart.........I used to work for a company where the manager had us anonymously acknowledge people in the office for something that made them special to us........those were nice notes to get! I need to take that message to heart, again and again. You think you know, and you do.........but always.....theres someone else! :-)
Paul - beautifully put - that gave me goosebumps! ...:-)
Tara - I know what you mean! I thought everything was available on Google! And I couldn't find it either......not even on Yahoo......now I know someone else will come up with it......they always do! Ok lets try Bueller..........:-)
Peter............lol......thats cute.....yep, slamming doors, revolving doors, locked doors.......but when we open them........hmmm.......sometimes miracles happen..:-)
Liz, I was blessed with wonderful parents so they are at the top of my list. I have also been blessed with a wonderful sister and children. Now I do have to say that some of my influencer's may not have been very positive experiences at the time they happened but they did influence my life. I talked about a few of those experiences in my post about business lessons I have learned.
I don't know there Liz. That kid on the right might be from outer space. You sure you are not raising an alien, or a bear or something.
Liz, I did something like this a while back, and I realized that some of my big ones are no longer around to thank. So I tracked down some special people I had lost track of and it was amazing. There was an amazing couple in Topeka, Kansas where I grew up, and I used to babysit for their children. They were a huge influence for the good, and when I went back for a class reunion, I stayed with them and got the chance to acknowledge the difference they had made in my life. There's nothing like it - for you or for the people you are thanking.
Marchel - its always wonderful to hear that people had great parents......so often its not the case.. Good case in point about 'influencers' in our lives that haven't been that positive! That happens - not quite sure how we acknowledge that one, except maybe to ourselves? I'll go take a look for those posts of yours..:-)
Steven - I know he's the shy kind - doesn't like to have his photography taken in public..........they invented halloween just for him! :-)
Patricia - you're right thats the sad part, some of them are no longer around.........and there's a wistful sadness sometimes about never having acknowledged those......but we do have the 'now'........and it is like you said an incredible experience acknowledging someone - often they have no idea......! :-)
Thanks for the reminder to think about meaningful influences - and to thank them!
Lynn.........:-) I'm working on my list of 'unacknowledged ' ones right now!
Great post! I will work on my list, my goal this year was to reconnect with lost friends and I have been doing that. Now I will have to add some new names to my list. Thanks for the positive thought! Brenda :)
I started doing that last fall Brenda...when a friends husband passed away....and i missed supporting her through it because I never stayed in touch....I never knew! So now I take the time I thought I never had...:-)
Liz - Thanks for sharing this food for thought. I love thinking back on all the people who have influenced my life and continue to do so. I hope to take some of their lessons and pass them along to others.
Lynn -its a good thing to reflect on isn't?.......its certainly cause for a greatful spirit! :-)