Influences

It is remarkable how much a person sees, does and encounters in a short life span of 90 years.  My mother turned 90 this month and we celebrated with a small dinner at a restaurant she used to frequent throughout the years.  She has shared lots of memories with me over the past several years, most often at our weekly lunches at Baker's Square.  I wonder what happened during her life that led her to the person she is today.  Think of what she has witnessed.  The collapse of the stock market, wars, flu epidemics (one that took her father's life), more wars, fashion good and gone wrong.  She reminds me that she is all that is left of a once large group of friends who went through these things with her.  She has suffered and endured and persisted through challenges that most of us have only read about.  Everyday she gets up and makes sure she fulfills a daily "purpose" because to be lazy and do nothing would be appalling.  Her upbringing bought her a work ethic unlike any I've seen, a skepticism towards the world, a glass is half empty view on life.  She deplores waste and generations of people she believes are spoiled.  Some might say she is bitter.

I haven't gone through nearly half of what she did and I have not adopted her views on life, although I greatly respect her and what she has accomplished with what she was given.  She has greatly influenced my life in ways no amount of reading or education could have, simply with her demonstrated resilience and pride.  She always said she would scrub floors if she had to in order to feed her children, before any outside assistance would be requested.  One might conclude she made her life harder because of that, but I believe it made her strong. She has helped me develop resilience through her example and that resilience has served me well.  Things don't always go as expected or turn out as we hoped, but always there is a lesson to be learned and applied. The tide turns eventually and a new door opens. If we are resilient we can be ready for the next new adventure.

I have been thinking about the people who have influenced my life.  Some did so through positive reinforcement, providing me with opportunities to succeed or fail.  Some were behind the scenes supporting me, encouraging me to go for it.  Some have made me believe anything is possible through faith and prayer.  But there are those people who doubted and discouraged me, who judged or tried to limit me.  One might think I would resent or be bitter about those people but the truth of the matter is they helped me too.  Rather than believe what they were saying, it inspired me to try harder and do better to prove them wrong.  Granted it takes a lot more energy to convince someone you are worthy than to simply be accepted or encouraged for who you are, but even our enemies can propel us forward if we allow ourselves to be inspired rather than defeated by them.

So today I thank God for all of the people in my life who influenced who I am today and my He bless each and everyone of them.