Last night I went to a memorial celebration for my old friend and colleague Lisa Altobelli. The most amazing thing about it was that she had such an impact on everyone - from her laugh, to her silly sense of humor to her brilliance at work - and that was clear to see as last night she brought so many people together. There was the usual crew there that I totally expected to see, but also quite a few surprises with some people that I hadn't seen in years.
In catching up about the old days, one woman there reminded me of some advice I'd given her when she started dating a new guy. He was nice and handsome and people could tell he really adored her but, for whatever reason, she wasn't quite convinced. I guess what I told her was something like this, "He seems like a great guy. You deserve a great guy, so why not open yourself up to this? Give him a chance and see what happens."
It does sound like something I would say. It's actually something I've done for myself. I was really very touched that she remembered this AND that she followed my advice, as they have been happily married for several years now.
Sometimes it's really easy to feel like we don't have any impact on or influence over people, especially those we know and care about and love. Hearing my own advice again, years later from the person I gave it to, was really unexpected, but really awesome. It was a nice reminder that my words do have power for good, especially when they come from the heart.
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