Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
The place to begin building any relationship is inside ourselves, inside our circle of influence, our own character. Stephen Covey
How much time do we spend worrying about things we can’t change or will never happen? For sure we need to be able to deal with things when they happen and some of the things we have to deal with are what we’ve never worried about. Because we’ve never worried about them we don’t know what they are until they come upon us and we deal with them the best we can.
Some of us worry about the things we don’t need to worry about so much we ruin the good things we have in our life. Are we making the most of the present – the gift that is given to us each day? With a seven-month-old grandson, we are more aware of each day because watching him grow and change is a daily experience. It is more noticeable when he is seven months old but the present is a gift every day of our lives.
Some day we won’t be able to have coffee with the person we’ll share a coffee with today because circumstances change and things we take for granted are no longer there to be enjoyed, or taken for granted. One day my daughter, her husband, and their son will move and we won’t see them every day. If we are lucky and they don’t move too far away visits will be often. We don’t know how things will unfold and need to enjoy these golden moments while they are here.
I’m not sure I realized the magnitude of my decision to leave home at seventeen. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have had the courage to go. Maybe I would have stayed in the same province or a closer one. My life would be completely different. We need to make the best of where we are. People are mostly the same wherever we go; how we treat them impacts how they treat us.
In order to live a fulfilled life, do not focus on the size of your audience; focus instead on leaving an impact on the circle of influence God has given you. Rosalie Mugidde Wamambe
I say this not because I am widely traveled or because my circle is so large, but because I believe we all want the same things in life. We want to love and be loved, we want to be appreciated, we want to contribute, and we want to live in peace and plenty.
I am guilty of feeling the government isn’t making the right decisions when I have no idea what the right decision would be. The people who have to make the tough decisions can go from hero to zero and back again. We can spend our time nitpicking about everything, or we can focus on the big picture, but most of what we should focus on is what we can do where we are, within our little or big circle of influence.
If we can’t figure out how to have peace in our families, how do we think we can figure out how to have peace in the world? If we can’t figure out the economy of our family’s budget how do we think we could figure out how to run the budget of a city, province, or country?
It isn’t easy to stay in our circle of influence. The more questions I ask the fewer answers I have.
No matter how old we become, we can acquire knowledge and use it. We can gather wisdom and profit from it. We can grow and progress and improve and, in the process, strengthen the lives of those within our circle of influence. Gordon B. Hinckley
The Genius Pattern = Thy will be done with my talents with my circles of influence with the opportunities that are laid out in front of me to bless the world. Robert G. Allen
That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. T. Scott Fitzgerald
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
