I’ve been thinking long and hard about the impact we have on one another through our actions. It’s a vital power, actually, that can be used for good or for evil. My deep reflection comes from a message of gratitude from a person that I helped over three decades ago, that I wrote about last week. It got me thinking about some of the people who influenced me greatly, too.
Not surprisingly for a writer, I have great appreciation for my English teachers way back in the day. I was fortunate to have a series of insightful, supportive and dynamic English teachers straight from junior high through to grade 12 graduation. These people were all very different from each other – from conservative mothers to quirky hitchhiking backpackers. But they had one thing in common – they were great teachers who expected a great deal from me.
I’m happy to report that I have sought them out to tell them the impact their belief in me had. Over the last couple of decades, I personally visited with all of them – one was easy to find because she was still a huge influence on the public education scene in Calgary. For another I went directly to my former high school to visit and arrived early enough that I could eavesdrop from outside her classroom to hear that she still had the same spunk and irreverence she had decades before! I felt like I had reconnected with my strongest school ally, and I was determined to keep in touch. But in the months between that visit and my next pop-in, she had passed away. It was astonishing to me that she was gone, even though many years had gone between us seeing one another. I think I was stunned by the realization that I had always intended to reach out, but never took the time until I very nearly ran out of it. I was so lucky I had snuck in what had become our final visit and I vowed to try my best not to take anyone for granted again.
I’ve since sent notes or phoned managers to give accolades for people I’ve witnessed being super kind to others. One of these was a person at a hardware store who was incredibly engaged while fitting a young boy to the perfect sized new bike. But, really, most of my big impact people were teachers, and my bet is that can be said for most of us. What a force of influence these professionals are. It makes me think of the old poem by Edgar Guest (which my grade 8 teacher made me memorize!):
Is anybody happier because you passed this way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?
The day is almost over, and its toiling time is through
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?
Can you say tonight in parting with the day that’s slipping fast,
That you helped a single person of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said
Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God will say,
You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today.
Visit Sandy’s website at www.LifeInRetirement.ca