As we move along in our lives, we sometimes forget how many lives we actually touch. Like the pebble dropped into the pond, our waves go on and on until they reach the far shore. That’s a lot of territory to cover – a lot of lives to touch.
The power of your personal touch
It’s easy to see how you touch the lives of the people you personally interact with – your family, your friends, your co-workers. Your interactions with them are tangible and the results often evident. This is the perfect place to begin to practice expanding your reach. Make certain you say only kind things, listen to what is not being said and respond to that, watch the reactions you elicit and decide what to change about yourself. Notice the effect you have, the difference you make. The people you interact with are a mirror in which you see the reflection of yourself.
The power of your passing touch
You touch people by your mere presence. They’re attracted to your enthusiasm, your joy, the spiritual energy that emanates as you check out at their counter, or walk by them, or they simply feel your energy from across the room. You don’t realize that you touched those lives and you don’t know how profound the impact was. It’s the reflection of the goodness within you that they respond to. They see your light within.
The power of people you inspire
You may inspire someone because of your tenacity, your thoughtfulness, your determination and perseverance. You may inspire them by a kindness you showed.
We can become more impactful when we move consciously through our lives. Begin to give some thought to how you inspire people and how that, in turn, affects their lives.
I do what I do because I’m deeply called to my work. Although I don’t set out to inspire people with what I write, I know I do. They respond to what comes from my own inner truth; they’re touched by the words I use and the ideas I share.
I know this because people write to me about how they were moved. Otherwise I’d never know. But we have to trust that the way we live our lives, and the energy and positive intention of the work we produce, will inspire people we don’t even know.
The value of the lives you improved
Look back at the various nudges, helping hands and inspiration that have come your way over the years. For me, it was the teacher who made me Managing Editor of my school paper and started me on a lifetime of writing, the teacher of a comparative religion class that peaked my curiosity about the world’s great religions, the friend who got me involved in reiki so I became a reiki master teacher third degree, the practitioner who invited me to the Center for Spiritual of Living, where I spent the following five years becoming a practitioner, people I coached and learned from in the process, people whose webinars and tutorials sent me off on new creative directions.
None of those people know how much they changed and improved my life. But their effect was deep and lifechanging and has shaped how I have moved in the world to affect others.
You have done the same for others and you will never know how many lives you have changed.
Your energy and the far reach of social media
I had two signs recently about the ever-growing reach of social media. Someone shared one of my podcasts with her list on LinkedIn and Twitter and several new people from Twitter started following me. I don’t personally know all the people I reach through my posts and podcasts and videos on social media. I don’t know how my offering changes their lives and the lives of those they touch. I don’t know how something I write may spark an idea for someone else, who turns around and interprets it in their unique manner so that it touches another life.
But the signs that this is happening keep coming back to me. When I see them I have to understand that one of the ways I can make my life count is to keep doing what I’m doing – thinking and exploring and sharing what I discover. It all counts. It all matters. It’s all part of that ripple.
The next time you’re feeling irrelevant, like your life doesn’t count for much, just know that the wave from your pebble has hit a lot of shores, gone over a lot of rocks, swirled through a lot of leaves, and sent ripples to a lot of fish. Your wave counts. Your wave makes a difference.
Know that. Trust that. Be the best wave you can be.
To Sing a Deeper Song consider:
The Power of Your Personal Path
The Reward is in the Journey
Are You a Gift Person
The Desire for Freedom and the Road Less Traveled
Do You Know How To Love?
27 – Why Have You Been Chosen
28 – How to Walk Beside Someone in Service