I have joined a writing group recently. Each week an email is sent out with ideas and tips. A recent message encouraged creating a list of important people in your life and then documenting about their influence. I love this.

Who would be on your list? I imagine family members, friends, and teachers would be foremost. It reminds me of a clip I saw on social media. The singer, Adele, was asked during a concert who had influenced her. She talked about her favorite teacher and how she touched her life. This teacher “happened” to be in the audience and a brief reunion ensued. I shared the link below. Have tissues handy.

Thinking of my own list – one of the first was my 6th grade teacher. The student gossip was you did NOT want to have her. I remember a little trepidation when I saw the class list. She was challenging and demanding, as was rumored. The best ones are. I really enjoyed her though. Except for a particular week each month. That is how she left such an impact on me.

She had a strong philosophy that EVERY person needed to know how to speak in public. So each month we had to prepare and present a short speech to the class. For an extremely shy 6th grader, this was like a death sentence. As that week approached, I would literally pray to be sick when it was time to give our speeches. Those prayers never got answered. What a blessing.

We spoke about all sorts of topics and for varying lengths – 30 seconds at first and up to a minute or so as the year progressed. It never got easier for me at the time. Yet that forced, prolonged practice helped me learn that I could do hard things that felt like they would kill me and I would come out alive on the other side.

I don’t know that she taught for very long, but I really am grateful she did long enough to influence me. The speaking assignments really helped shape the way I handled other intimidating challenges that came later.

While creating this post I actually googled her. To my surprise, she is still living in my hometown, involved in the community. I plan on writing to her.

I am so grateful for the people in my life who have perhaps just filtered through and yet left lasting impressions. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell so beautifully penned,

“The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others, but warm them as well” (Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake, 1974, p. 86).

It leads me to ponder, how am I influencing others in my own orbit and how can I do better?

Adele’s teacher surprise: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1054756451768000

Alas, I have joined the infamous Failed Resolutions club – again. Yet I am sure I’m in good company. Haven’t all of us received that particular membership card in some form? Good thing we can keep trying.

I watched a Day-In-The-Life reel of a musician recently. He took the audience along, traveling to his next tour stop. Through that day, I realized just how many people it must take to allow him to do what he does. So many behind the scenes. He does not do it alone.

I thought more about that during the day. Who in my life has been behind the scenes, allowing me to do what I do?

I was reminded of a powerful movie scene. We enjoyed “Soul on Fire” over the Holiday season. It is based on the life of John O’Leary. He was severely burned at 9 years old and given a 1% chance of living. He miraculously recovered and became a successful business owner and motivational speaker despite his challenges.

The scene that made a lasting impact on me was right before he was released from the hospital. Many were gathered around his bed, celebrating his incredible recovery with his family. So many had played a part. One of the doctor’s spoke up and, as I remember, talked about the miracle they all had a part in. Then he said, one person truly saved his life and made all the difference. There is an artful pause to allow you to think who you would choose.

Was it the nurse who encouraged him to stretch through scar tissue and painfully work damaged limbs? Was it family members who prayed and spent countless hours with him, offering support as best they could. Was it the skilled doctors who knew the right procedures needed?

The doctor’s hand claps onto the shoulder and startles the janitor by his side, indicating he was the one. He explains that because of his faithful and quiet work to ensure the room was sterile, John was protected from the chance of infection in his extremely vulnerable state and granted the time he needed to recover.

Now in truth, that small army all played a vital part in the young man’s recovery. Yet there is such a beautiful truth to what the doctor pointed out. If that vital and often unheralded work of keeping the room clean would have been neglected, all the expertise and encouragement and love would not have mattered at all. John would have died.

It makes me want to see others better. I want to recognize the importance of the seemingly small but mighty impacts in my own life. Most given without fanfare. I pray for better sight in that regard. I also want to be more willing to do those small, perhaps less-noticed things to help others along their way. I want to be a quiet hero.