We all have influences in our lives.
- The way we think and dress, and even the goals we set, have been shaped by various influences over the course of our lives.
- Some of those influences have become deeply embedded in us, while others we have rejected.
- But the fact is, we are all a product of multiple influences.
Occasionally, however, something that started as one of many contributing influences becomes more dominant and perhaps even begins to subtly control us.
- This control can powerfully shape our personalities – the way we see things and the way we react to situations.
- We all have met folks who respond to the world through the control of things such as drugs, alcohol, money, obsessive thoughts, weight issues, failed dreams, or fear.
- When an idea, a substance, or weight issues, failed dreams, fear, or another person controls us, it affects nearly everything we do.
Understanding what or who controls a person can help that person to focus on the problem.
- We all have known people who suffered a slight or even a grave injustice in the past, and they became infuriated.
- The never dealt with their rage and never resolved it. They spent the rest of their lives increasingly controlled by that anger. If they went out to eat, they were angry when they ordered. They were angry when they talked about their past and angry when they looked into their future. In some cases, their anger affected their spouses or their children until all those around them were painfully scarred or developed their own anger issues.
- There are also other influences in our lives, such as mothers who pray for us, a whom we look up to, or movies that help us escape the street life for a few hours a week.
We have to make choices about all of our influences and choose what will control us.
Re-source: Recondition
reshaping the circumstances affecting the way in which people live or work, especially with regard to their well-being
Our personalities weren’t shaped on a deserted island. That’s why it is so important to make sure we have positive influences in our lives, and that we are surrounded by good people.
- Good influences are gifts that help us develop into the people we want to become.
Regardless of whether we have had good influences or bad influences, we still get to decided what will influence our future.
It is heartbreaking to meet people who have become hardened, embittered, unforgiving, and cynical.
- The “glass is always half empty” kind of people didn’t start life that way. They weren’t born that hardened.
We don’t have to let the negative influences in our lives control us.
craving and resource from “Spirit Rising”– Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit – by Jim Cymbala with Jennifer Schuchmann
