When I get discouraged, I think of someone in my life who really made a difference. This could be anyone from a professor I had, to a good friend growing up, to an old co-worker. 2 years ago

During a really good and lengthy converastion with my mother, a man named Alvain Law was a predominant subjet of discussion. For those who do not know who he is, Alvain is a man who, as a result of a controversial morning sickness drug eventually banned from use, was born with no arms. Even through a difficult life, Alvain has asserted himself in an amazingly positive way. The words “I can’t” never made it into his vocabulary. He has done many wonderful things with his life, despite his lack of arms. Travellimg to many places, including seminars, highschools, professional developpement days and the like, Mr. Law is a superb motivational and inspirational speaker. At a professional developpement conference for her work, my mother had the pleasure of listening to one of his speeches. In this, he metioned that there were many people who played very important roles in his life. From a baseball coach when he was 11 and asked to be on the team, to a group of highschool teachers who designed a devise to facilitate trombone playing, and even a piano teacher whose negative comments inspired him to prove her wrong. Each of these individuals made a bigger difference in his life than they could have figured.
In a workshop later that day, another speaker brought these examples into light. She had told all the women present that she wondered if those people even knew the inpact they had on Alvain’s life, who then touched so many other lives in turn. She had made a millenium resolution to write letters of thanks to those who had impacted her through her life. Unfortunately, five years later, not one letter had been sent. Yet she still makes the effort to sit back and think on those who have made a diffence to us. Sometimes we don’t realise until we think hard, she says. She urged her listeners to do the same. This speaker, and Alvain too, had mentioned that since many have changed our lives, we also never know who lives we may influence. Those few moments we may take to encourage, to support, to smile at, or even just to remember a name of someone we meet. Each little act like this can mean more than we realise. And we never know when the last day will be; their’s or our own. We have limited time in which to make our feelings know, in which to express things such as gratefulness, thanks and to offer to others the chance to be so themsleves.
My mother pased these messages on to me, and I began to think. Yes, I understand that this may sound cliché, but it is founded in truth. Even though, like the speaker, I may never succeed in writting to all those who helped me in my life, I still want to realise who they were. I still want to make sure I know what those individuals have done for me, how they have impacted and inspired me. And I would like to try my best to let it be known to them, in some way, before it is too late. I feel that this is possible already. There are people whose worth me may not realise until they are no longer a part of our lives, and there are also those who are still around us that make a daily difference to us. The beauty of today is that for those who are far, we have the means of contacting (through e-mails or a phone directory) and those who are close are only a phrase away from knowing how much they mean to us.
I vow, from this moment on, to try my hardest to let it be know when I have been moved or affected or inspired by another.
The words ‘Thank you’ have sometimes been overused when they are not fully felt to the core. Sometimes they are said just to be said. But their meaning is not lost. Not when it matters. There must be no words more powerful than these, save ‘I love you’. Both are essentially the expression of upmost appreciation for the entirety of a person and their role in our lives. 7 years ago