Last night over dinner, a friend asked all of us who had been the biggest influence in our life. One realised that we have all been shaped by different people who came into our life at various points in time, and even as they may have passed on, they have left something behind with us—something we still hold precious.

Life is never static. We continue being influenced by people around us, and as we look back a few years, we realise we may have changed. Sometimes the change is deliberate, and sometimes unconscious. When we surround ourselves with goodness and constantly revisit our core beliefs and principles, we learn to manage influence with ease.

The times we struggle with allowing influences in our life are when we refuse to listen, get stubborn in our thinking, and often our ego builds invisible barriers. It doesn’t mean we should allow every influence to change us; that would confuse us and make us vulnerable. We just need to be mindful that when a very different thought and point of view is presented from someone we trust, we need to be open to at least hearing it, reflecting upon it, and being open to change if deep down we know it is the right thing to do.

And it is not just people we know that we get influenced by. A chance conversation, observing someone in a situation, or even reading about something can trigger us internally. When the time is right, influences come into our lives, often from unexpected quarters.

When we sit back and see how we have grown and how deeply we have been influenced, we may well discover something we may not have realised – someone out there is probably getting influenced by the way we are living our life.

(Picture – Neuweier, Baden-Baden)