Who Do You Influence?

When you were a kid, did your parents keep you away from certain friends because they were bad examples? Did they tell you they were a bad influence on you? Most likely they had a good reason to say what they did. The people around us have a strong influence on our thoughts and actions.

Good parents will try to keep their children away from others who begin to follow an unhealthy road which may include tobacco, alcohol, drugs and sex. Illicit things are attractive to teenagers. There’s a certain thrill in getting away with something. This is part of the reason many teenagers attempt to shoplift. It isn’t because they are wanting things they can’t have. Rather, it’s the thrill of sneaking them and not getting caught.

As adults we are not immune from being influenced by those around us. We easily pick up the mannerisms and ways of those we spend a lot of time around. A typical example might be the accents we pick up when we move to a different part of the land. If I were to move from Wisconsin to Texas, it wouldn’t take long for me to change the way I pronounce some of my words.

This is true in other areas of our life too. Just as we can pick up bad habits from our friends as teens, so too can we do it as adults. We like to blend in, to belong. So we will often pick up a habit or hobby of someone we love and admire to feel a connection with them. Friends who like to drink can influence us to drink. We might learn to crochet because our best friend does.

It makes sense, then, for us to spend time with people who we would like to emulate. Just as people with bad habits can influence us, so can those with habits we admire and want to participate in. For example, if you want to lose weight, it would make more sense to spend time with someone who likes to exercise than with someone who likes to spend nights drinking. These should be considerations when we schedule our time.

If writing is our hobby we want to be better writers. A good way to do this is to connect with other writers, as well as people who like to read. Their input and constructive criticism can help give us insights to improve our writing. If the goal is to overcome addiction it is quite helpful to join support groups for people who have been addicted. Our friends and family can either help or hurt us in achieving our goals.

Look at the people in your life. Who do you spend the most time with? Do you like and admire these people? Would you want to be just like them? Because, the more time you spend with them, the more influence they will have upon you. Make sure it’s a good one.