You Are A Data Point

"What we choose to share, defines who we are."

C. Voyatzis

    I had a really cool experience today while I was at school today that reminded me how I can be an influence on others by what I share. 

     The receptionist at the LAC building at SLCC stopped me before I left today and wanted to thank me. I ask for what, and he said "I just really like how open of a person you are. I really like that you've taken the time to share information with me. Not forcing information on me, but sharing. Especially the knowledge you learned from "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer. Those things you took the time to share with me, really helped my evolve my health and fitness to a whole new level. I also like that we were able to share our own life philosophies with each other without the pressure of thinking that the other person is going to jump down the others throat if they say something that the other doesn't totally agree with." 

     That compliment reminded me of how much of an influence I can be on the people around me, which also brings me to my point of this post. I may have been a good influence to him, but what about all the other people in my life? It brought to my attention that I need to be aware of how I am influencing people and what I am sharing with people, because sometimes I might be influencing someone for the negative and not even know it. I need to also be skeptical towards the people I follow and look up to. Why? Because they are influencing me. Which means most of the information that I share with others is coming through those people. To be put plainly, I need to be careful on who I believe because I influence other people, and if the person that is influencing me is walking off the ledge of a cliff then I will soon follow, then the people following me. 

      This thought made me feel like an immense responsibility was given to me, but it can be a gift as well. In my case today, it was a gift. I was able to help someone find information that helped bring their health and fitness to the next level. I may not be a certified professional in health and fitness, but I was able to share something that has helped me. You could say I'm a professional sharer. We all are professional sharers and with this profession comes a great responsibility. We have a responsibility to share what we know, but also to look at where we are getting our "wisdom". To be honest, we cannot know the whole truth to anything without experiencing it, and even then that is only one data point on a graph of possibilities. What works for one person may not work for another, and that is perfectly natural. 

     I just believe that we must share what we know to be truth for ourselves, continue to question what we know and know the intent of sharing what we think we know to be able to try and hone our influence for the better. Be open to being wrong though.