Every single person, every one around you, and even those people whom you have never met or been in contact with can and will be directly or indirectly influenced by you,…IF…you will begin to regularly use the talents, abilities, and gifts that God Almighty gave you at conception.
All too often I hear people say, “I just don’t know that many people” or “No one ever listens to me” or “I just don’t know what to say to other people whom I do not know very well.” Well dear ones, hear me well,…whenever you are making excuses, anyone you make will work. But the facts are just that…facts! And the documented facts clearly tell us that everyone,… every human being…can and does impact and influence the people with whom they associate and communicate. That, of course, would include you. Your actions and efforts at influencing those folks around you are always in play if you will simply initiate the process. One fact of life is true. If you do not use those talents and abilities that God has given you whether they are good or not, then nothing will happen and no one will benefit. Get your eyes off of yourself and start being interested in other people and their wants and needs.
One is too small of a number with which to succeed. Every person alive will impact and influence well over 10,000 other people over their own life time if they will but open themselves up to love and serve their fellow men or women. The Golden Rule remains as true today as it was so very many years ago when it was written: Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you.
The Holy Scriptures tell us the secret to living a successful life. God truly does want his creation to interact, assist, and support one another. The Bible says in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4, verses 1–6 NLT:
The Vanity of Selfish Toil
(1) “Again, I observed the oppression that takes place under the
sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort
them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims
are helpless.
(2) So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.
(3) But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For
they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
(4) Then I observed that most people are motivated to success
because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is
meaningless–like chasing the wind.
(5) Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.
(6) And yet, better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”
Further on in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4 verses 9–12 NLT:
the readers are specifically instructed to help each other out in their toils and efforts:
(9) “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each
other succeed.
(10) If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But
someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
(11) Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each
other warm. But how can one be warm alone?
(12) A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but
two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even
better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”
So here is a real Truth of Life: An unused life is an early death.
God originally designed man (Adam) to love and serve Him all for His own good pleasure and glory. After woman (Eve) was created, God’s desire was for the man and woman to love and serve Him and to love and serve each other,….all for the glorification of God. Nothing has changed since the Garden of Eden. God’s instructions are still just as true.
So many people ask the serious question: Can one person really make a difference in the world today? The emphatic and resounding answer is YES…they can!
I once read a story that better tells what I am feebly attempting to relate to you through this article. It took place in downtown New York City. The lead role in the story was a local resident who for years had scurried about the metropolis always in a hurry and always demanding rather than asking or complimenting. We can all learn a great lesson from this story.
There once was a New Yorker who one fine day personally determined to be totally complimentary to every person he saw,…everyday. One of his friends asked him, “Do you even compliment taxi cab drivers?” The man quickly replied, “Certainly! If I am nice to one cab driver, he’s likely to be nice to his next twenty fares, at a minimum. If they are in turn nicer to the shopkeepers, waitresses, and their own families, that one gesture of goodwill on my part, just might impact and influence at least another one thousand people or more!
Every person knows other people,…who know other people,…who when accumulated, know untold thousands of people. A fact of life is that if you, as an individual, impact and influence just one person you meet or know, in reality,…you indirectly impact and influence at least one thousand other people that you have never met!
The New Yorker went on to say, “Now, if only three people that I talk to today actually have a happier and more joyful day because of what I said to them, I might indirectly influence the mental attitude of a minimum of 3,000 other human beings! If a few of those I talk to are teachers, or people who have contact with more than the usual number of people,…why my good mood just might touch more than 10,000 lives. Not one other thing I do today is likely to have that kind of impact!”
If there was ever a piece of advice I would give to any and all of you readers and listeners, it would be this. If you truly do wish to become a great person of influence, and as such become a greater leader of people, then please pass on a portion of what you have and possess today. If you have nothing but your own smile, goodwill, and joy—pass it on!
You,…yes You,…can truly make a real and significant difference in this world today.
Peace and Love to All of You……………….Poppa Bear