You're More Powerful than You Think!

When you think of someone who is powerful, who comes to mind?  Is it the President?  The CEO of a major company?  The pastor of your church?  Oprah?  What characteristics does one have to possess in order to be described with the adjective powerful?

I had the opportunity to attend church with a dear friend of mine today.  The pastor preached about influence.  He reminded the congregation about how easily our lives can be influenced.  In contrast, he informed us of the power that we have to influence others.  He quoted a shocking statistic in his sermon:  "The average person influences approximately 10,000 people in his lifetime."



Ten thousand?  That's a lot of people!  I'm pretty sure that I don't even know 10,000 people.  In fact, I'm a couple of hundred people shy of having a mere 1,000 Facebook friends!  So, how in the world can I influence that many people?  I barely have the time to get all of my tasks done in a day, so how do I have the time to influence 10,000 people?

The fact of the matter is that we influence people when we don't even know that we're doing it.  We influence people by our relationships, the way we dress, what we eat, what we say, and our facial expressions, just to name a few.  When I began to think about the opportunities that I have to influence others, these were the first few to enter my mind:

-as a mom

-my position as a teacher

-coaching cheerleaders

-as a youth advisor at church

-as a friend

-shopping in the store

-blogging

-singing in the choir at church

-tutoring after school

And those are just the first few things that came to mind.  Wow, I am way more powerful than I thought.  I bet you are, too!  Take a minute and think about the power that you have to influence someone's life.  Actively thinking about it will help you to make good decisions and to be the person that you want others to be.  Take advantage (in a positive way) of the power that you have been given to make this world a better place!