Perhaps it was that Valentine that you received in the second grade that said, “you’re beautiful” or it was the time that you didn’t get picked for the soccer team with all of your friends, or playing the lead in the school play, or the time that your teacher told the whole class that you got the high score on the test, or the day that you messed up and got stage fright in your piano recital, or the bully that called you the poor kid, the fat kid or the stupid kid, or that moment that you realized all of the power that came along with being “popular”, or that time when somebody invited you to play and it made you feel special, or how you felt when you got ditched, or that time when you saw somebody picking on your best friend and you stopped them, or when somebody said thank you for something so simple as sharing, or the person who caught you stealing, or when you lied and got away with it, or that day that you made your mother cry, or when you blamed your sister for something you did, or feeling forgotten when your parents were hours late to pick you up from practice, or the angry face you witnessed you saw your first fist fight, or that pit in your stomach when you heard your friends talking about you behind your back, or that butterfly moment when you found out that the boy/girl that you liked- liked you back, or that time that you listened to somebody else’s problems and learned something about yourself, or that person who judged you and you felt misunderstood, or that teacher that filled your brain with crazy ideas that contradicted everything your parents taught, or that friend that you knew was a bad influence that you hung around anyway, or that smart kid who always gave you something to work towards, the president your did a report on in the fifth grade, or that teacher/coach that really encouraged you to new levels, the person who caused your first pang of jealousy, the weird kid who took you to the Prom, the person who really helped you to know that God is real, the character in your favorite book, the people who loved you, the people who sometimes knew you better than yourself despite your willingness to admit it, your mother, your father, your brother or sister, aunt or uncle, cousin or grandmother, or the grandparent you never met but everyone said that you were just like him/her, or the dog that was your best friend and confidant, your first love, the heart that you hated to break, your greatest competition, that friend who would always listen, that person who you knew could understand you, that person who bugged you so much that you did everything opposite just to ensure that you were not like him/her, the friend who moved away, the people who loved to put you in a box, the people who won’t let you grow up and make changes, the people who let you free and who let you learn and be who you want to be, the people that you watched and learned from without them knowing it, your children that taught you a whole new meaning of love, sacrifice and selflessness, the person who saved your life, the person you lost who made you stop taking life for granted, the people who watched and followed you without you knowing it, your first boss, the coworker you despised, envied or admired, the raunchy waitress who tried your patience, the person who held the elevator or picked up your glove and reassured you that there are still good people in the world...
People, and our interactions with people, how we view people and how people view us, the way we feel about people and how we react to people and the little moments and experiences with people that we hold on to, are all an influence in who we are... So many people take part in creating you and me both. And we are each helping to create the people around us whether we realize it or not. Through what experiences among the people in your life have you become who you are? Who has been and who now is part of creating you?
