"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel ." - Maya Angelou
Our lives are built upon the experiences that we have and the people who have come into it. For better or worse, we are basically the sum of accumulated relationships, with our own interpretations, emotions, and analysis thrown in to spice up life. All relationships are just building blocks to our identity. Without them, we would have no sense of self, no feedback on our behaviors, and no mirror to reflect on. The beauty of social connection is that a single person can completely turn your life upside down and inside out.
People are basically kaleidoscopes, constantly rotating and mirroring what we see back into the world. If you think about it that way, realize that whatever emotional energy you put out in the world gets reflected somehow back to you. Have you ever noticed when one person begins to strongly criticize the company, the other people, who were seemingly neutral up till that point, start to chime in as well? Sooner or later, you find yourself swimming in a pool discouragement and dissatisfaction. The opposite is true as well. Someone comes up and just seems to brighten the entire room up without doing much except bring their genuine smile and ask how everyone's day was.
We have more influence that we would like to believe and the truth is, people feed off of each other's energy. That's why awareness of our own thoughts and emotions are so important. Even when you think no one is looking, I can assure you, someone is, whether they know it consciously or not.
So the next time you walk into a room of people, asks yourself these questions, "do I want to be the black hole that engulfs everything into oblivion? Or do I want to be the positive energy generator?" I wouldn't imagine anyone readily raising their hands and saying that they'd opt to be the black hole of the room, but we all know that there are days that are harder than others. If you are guilty of being a black hole sometimes (I certainly am), do not fret. Life is ever changing and we are never stagnant which means, we're always migrating between the two identities. Remember, the sun always peeks through after a rainy day. There will be up days and down days. That's life. The good news is that we're not forever doomed in our grim identity (unless we choose to, because you are completely free to decide how you want to show up in the world).
So take some time and prep yourself and think of who you want to show up in the world as. I can guarantee that if you bring that positivity into the room, it will be reflected back to you.
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