Are you the Influencer or the Influenced?
I got into a disagreement with a friend the other day and in retrospect I realized that she had become very influenced by the environment she worked in and the people she worked with.
And that happens.
You know people and one day you wake up and begin to wonder if you actually know them.
It’s easy to see what people give priority to and what moves them. You can see it in their actions, you can hear it in their speech.
A human being is actually not too hard to understand. The mistake we make is trying hold unto our preconceptions of a person or past notions of a person.
Times and seasons happen to us all. Celebrations, promotions, demotions, bereavement, all these major life events happen every day and it takes just one of them to change a person.
And what they do is build us or break us. Either way there is a moulding of our thoughts and beliefs. There is an evolving of ourselves.
People change and you will also change.
You know what they say about bad company corrupts good morals and iron sharpening iron?
Brethren, you must work on yourself in order to survive the company of others.
If you’re sharp, you’ll sharpen them and they you.
If they’re blunt, be careful of getting rusty and useless in time.
If you aren’t set on your ideals, having no boundaries or principles, You are going to go with the flow baby.
You can be influenced positively of course nothing wrong with that.
Still I hope it is not to the point where you cannot recognize who you really are.
There is something inherently special about you that can touch another persons life. You need to make sure you are also Iron so that you can sharpen others.
As time goes on we must re evaluate our lives.
Why do you want the things you want and do the things you do? Why do you follow some social media accounts? Why does medium recommend certain articles to you?
Refocus on your initial vision
Strip every distraction. Take a leave from social media. Remember your earliest dreams.
When you didn’t care about what society or other people cared about? When it didn’t depend on how many followers you could get?
The Key to remaining you
My way of dealing with relationships is simple: People will either uplift you or cause you to doubt who you are. Look, we don’t have our shit together. Nobody does.
No one is above correction or teaching. Regardless, wholesome correction is uplifting. You could feel remorse and regret but you will be pushed to become a better person. If they make you feel like you’re the the worst person ever, which obviously you’re not.
RUN! Run for your life!
Who is the influencer?
Who is the influenced?
Which do you seek to be? Whatever answer you choose to be I hope you check your motives. Why do you want to influence or be influenced?
The very nature of deciding to influence is to exert some form of control on a persons behavior. Advertisements do that to influence society’s financial behavior. And so do the many influencers with a product to sell.
Why do you see a quote on social media or pictures and aspire to have a persons style, a persons friendship or kind of Marriage?
I hope you are inspired by others but I pray you thrive on your own terms whatever the circumstances or location you are currently in.
I hope you live your best life not according to what someone else lets you see in their life. The best social accounts are curated, but real life isn’t! Things won’t always go according to plan.
I hope you get to live life for yourself, make mistakes and carve out your own unique path in this colorful world.
