“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”

~ Judy Garland

If you had to answer the question who was most influential in your life, it may be very easy for you to answer. It might be one person, or a few. I know that throughout my life, the list has been added to, and taken away from. I don’t “let” very many people in, but when I do they mean everything to me. Any piece of advice or words of wisdom they have for me stays with me waiting for the right moment that I need it.

And those people stay with me as well, it might be how they choose to live their lives, their work ethics, principles and values, well the list could go on and on. It’s not always in the big things either, sometimes the smallest word or emotion means more than everything else. These things truly touch my heart and make a mark onto my soul. I don’t take relationships with people lightly, and sadly sometimes, those relationships live their cycle and have to come to an end.

When life happens, as it always will, it is my heart that breaks the hardest. Someone that at one time could have been a positive influence can change into the exact opposite, it may not have anything to do with you personally, but regardless your heart tells you what you don’t want to hear.

So turn the tables…where am I in all this? Who do I influence? Is it positive, negative, inspirational? Am I starting that relationship or ending it? Are the words that come out of my mouth, the ones that I want to be remembered by? Will the decisions that I make today, be the same ones that I am proud of a little further down the road? It’s a lot to think about, but just an extra moment before the words or the action can make all the difference.

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