The surprise of our impact

It first happened as a teenager. Something I said stuck with someone. They told me they’d been thinking about my words, and as a result shifted their view on a topic. The change was unexpected.

It was almost as if I didn’t realize I could effect others. Almost like I was trapped in an isolated universe, my actions causing no butterfly effect, changing nothing. Of course I knew this wasn’t true at an intellectual level, but much of my childhood felt like I was a floating ghost in Harry Potter, shifting from one room to another, unaffecting the matter around me.

Part of that was because I hadn’t learned how to fit into the flow of conversations around me, how to say something that mattered. Until it started to happen a few times.

Now, years later, I’m still surprised and delighted when someone shares that my words had an impact. It’s almost like I’ve never fully shaken off that childhood of feeling like a floating avatar, Ebenzer Scrooge seeing the world around him but unable to change it. George Bailey wishing away the sadness, but without being able to call out to those he loved.

Ok, those references are a bit sad (though with happy endings). But I continually appreciate how much words matter, how much they can change others around us. I know the words of others have changed me, and I hope that the change I offer to others trends in the right direction.