My 21 year old stepson just came home from a 350 person wedding, where the groom was one of his cousins on his mother's side. At the wedding, he met a second cousin, whom I'll call Jack, who lives in Atlanta.
Jack talked at length about my husband, whom he had met at just a few family parties 25 years ago, when Jack was about 10. He remembered my husband very clearly, both the fact that he was a vegetarian (not nearly as popular in the US back then as it is today) and the fact that he was a computer programmer. Jack says this made a deep and lasting impression: he is a vegetarian and works in IT, and says it is due to his meeting my husband.
These were by no means memorable encounters from my husband's point of view. He was just being who he was. So my husband, just by being who he was, deeply affected Jack's life.
Here's another example:
A couple of weeks ago (9/12/12), my guest on "Your Life, Your Relationships" was Fred Burks, a former translator for US Presidents, whose work is now creating personal and planetary transformation. See this and this. When I asked him what opened his eyes and changed his life, it was the Disclosure Project video of Dr. Stephen Greer. (Btw, this video shifted my perspective on life and the world, as well.)
Dr. Greer's intention is to change the world -- and he is doing it through video, among other things. So maybe a video you make (or a radio show I do?) will change someone's life radically.
That's the point. You never know whom you'll affect, or when, or by doing what. My husband found out about this one person whose life he changed -- but what about all those people he's affected that he will never find out about? What about Fred? What about Dr. Greer? They surely will not know about all the change they've fostered, either.
What about all the people you have affected, whom you'll never know you affected? Whose life might you change today, by some simple action -- or non-action?
This is a great reminder to each of us to be our best self in any moment, in order to change people's lives for the better. Because you just never know...
Maybe being who you are gives someone permission to be who they are. Or sharing some bit of information turns out to be life changing. Maybe giving someone directions helps her get to a job interview on time, so she gets a job that she keeps for years and opens up new possibilities in her life. Of course, you'll never know that.
Jack talked at length about my husband, whom he had met at just a few family parties 25 years ago, when Jack was about 10. He remembered my husband very clearly, both the fact that he was a vegetarian (not nearly as popular in the US back then as it is today) and the fact that he was a computer programmer. Jack says this made a deep and lasting impression: he is a vegetarian and works in IT, and says it is due to his meeting my husband.
These were by no means memorable encounters from my husband's point of view. He was just being who he was. So my husband, just by being who he was, deeply affected Jack's life.
Here's another example:
A couple of weeks ago (9/12/12), my guest on "Your Life, Your Relationships" was Fred Burks, a former translator for US Presidents, whose work is now creating personal and planetary transformation. See this and this. When I asked him what opened his eyes and changed his life, it was the Disclosure Project video of Dr. Stephen Greer. (Btw, this video shifted my perspective on life and the world, as well.)
Dr. Greer's intention is to change the world -- and he is doing it through video, among other things. So maybe a video you make (or a radio show I do?) will change someone's life radically.
That's the point. You never know whom you'll affect, or when, or by doing what. My husband found out about this one person whose life he changed -- but what about all those people he's affected that he will never find out about? What about Fred? What about Dr. Greer? They surely will not know about all the change they've fostered, either.
What about all the people you have affected, whom you'll never know you affected? Whose life might you change today, by some simple action -- or non-action?
This is a great reminder to each of us to be our best self in any moment, in order to change people's lives for the better. Because you just never know...
Maybe being who you are gives someone permission to be who they are. Or sharing some bit of information turns out to be life changing. Maybe giving someone directions helps her get to a job interview on time, so she gets a job that she keeps for years and opens up new possibilities in her life. Of course, you'll never know that.
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