Solid Influence...

I think we often use terminology in our everyday conversation that is exaggerated to make a point. It bothers me when I hear certain things and I don’t mean to offend anyone, but when someone says that they’ve had a life changing moment, I question it.

For instance, on Monday I heard about a boxer who had a motorcycle accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. That is a life changing moment. Someone who is in war and loses an appendage in battle deals with a life changing moment. Losing a loved one can also be a life changing moment, especially when it is sudden and unexpected.

When someone says that a person has changed their life through an inspirational talk or maybe they’ve met their “soul mate” and their life is forever changed because of it, I tend to question it. I’ve met a lot of influential people, heard many inspirational speeches and none of those moments were life changing. Now my parents involved me in a life changing moment by giving me life. Thank you Mom and Dad!

I think there were a few times that dad may have threatened me with a life changing moment but that was merely to get my attention. But those attention-grabbing moments were influences maybe positive, maybe negative, but only influences.

Playing ball with my brothers was very interesting at times. If they would have beaned me with a fastball that could have really changed my life but fortunately they had good control and they never hit me with a pitched ball.

I’ve been married for nearly 33 years and I can tell you that being married has not been life changing. Anything that we may have done to change our lives was accomplished with mutual influence and if we made those changes we had to make up our own minds to make them happen.

I’ve often heard people say that a teacher made them a better student or a coach made them a better athlete. No one has that kind of power, I don’t care how many victories or championships they’ve won, or how many teacher of the month awards they’ve won. They know how to inspire, teach and get the student or the athlete to want to improve themselves. But I don’t care who the teacher or coach is, there are a few students or players that won’t buy into what had worked for so many others. Maybe that is where that statement, “You can’t win them all” comes from.

This past weekend I visited with several RHS alums that returned home to their roots to visit with classmates and/or teammates.

I had several great visits with teammates, and with several people who were very influential as players that I admired from the sideline.

By attending the alumni banquet, I talked with some former residents of Ritzville that I haven’t seen in over 50 years. Now, if I don’t go to the banquet those wonderful moments don’t happen.

It seems that every year I see someone at the banquet that I haven’t seen in a long time. I don’t know how many times after the banquet is over I hear someone ask, “Has anyone seen ______?” I’ve often said, “Yeah, I just talked with them at the banquet!”

I can tell you that I am reaching that age where I appreciate those encounters and conversations with so many former RHS students, friends or family members. We have no idea when we will see these fine folks again as a lot of them live far away and traveling will not be easy for them in the future.

The positive influences I’ve had are very valuable to me and I treasure those moments. Are they life changing? Of course not, but they have had a real positive influence on my life and have helped me become a better person because of them. I can live with that.