Influenced by People

All of us are influenced by people.  My perpetual curiosity came by the influence of both my mother and my father.  I learned about logic and how to identify the individual steps of an event (or an emotion) from my high school geometry teacher.  I learned the world was out there from my Grandma and my Cuban and German aunts.  These were people who were in my life by default. That's significant but not the whole story.

We can also choose people who have knowledge, wisdom or a characteristic we want to incorporate into our lives.  For me, because of my wide interests, I have a wide variety of people I listen to, that I can learn from, who can influence my life.  In fact, about half of the people I follow on Facebook and about 95% of the people I follow on Twitter are people who I admire and want to learn from.  The other half of my Facebook "friends" are actually friends or acquaintances that I follow as a way to share a little bit of their lives when I can't be around them as much as I may want.

But no one in my personal circle - that I know of - is a part of Twitter so that gave me the opportunity to use that platform to be curious about the world as well as interact with people whom I don't know but have something to say about things I'm interested in.  I follow a couple of news outlets in New Zealand and Australia because I was interested in how life goes for people in those countries that I would love to visit but probably will never get the chance.  I get an idea of the things that people in those countries care about and are talking about.  I'm following a radio station in Australia to get a little different perspective there.  I follow Melinda Gates because I admire her integrity and heart and her deep passion for the world and for making a way for women throughout the world.  I follow some gardening sites because I have so much to learn in that arena.  I follow textile artists from different disciplines from around the world.  I want to see what they're creating and what's influencing their art.  Maybe some of that will rub off on me. I follow some writing groups so I can feel a part of that community. I follow a silly reporter from a newspaper in Glasgow, Scotland, because he makes me laugh out loud.  I follow a few people whose whole presence on Twitter is aimed at encouraging people to excel and be tenacious and kind and constructive (without being soppy about it - I hate soppy sweety pie in the sky).

I made deliberate choices to ensure that the time I spend involved in social media (not a whole lot, if I'm honest) is making a positive influence on my life.  That's not to say I only follow people that agree with my views on the world, religion or politics.  No one grows by only listening to people they agree with.  If someone disagrees with my views but can give a reasoned perspective for their beliefs, that gives me a more dimensional view of the world and helps me understand the lives and circumstances of people outside of my personal experience.  If you can challenge me in some constructive way, I want to listen.

If you want to be creative, hang out with people who are creative.  If you want to be kind, hang out with people who are genuinely kind.  If you want to be determined and tenacious, hang out with that kind of person.  You may have those people in your circle of family and friends but you can also seek out more of those people on purpose for a specific reason.

Be sure your influences are those that are going to lead you, encourage you, kick you in the back side to keep you going and be honest with you.  Nothing can stop you with that behind you.