Every so often, you meet someone who changes your life for the better. There were some powerful mentors in my past. Difficult, mercurial … but the lessons they engraved in my mind became the basis for my current expertise in the various industries I work in. There were people - family, friends, former love interests, more - whom I loved dearly, who contributed to making me the caring person I am. So many more facets of a life, these and more have all had influences on. Some died, some moved away, some just left.

The real shame, I find, is that in so many cases, these people who have had such an outsize influence on me, never got to see the changes they wrought, the results of the work that they inadvertently did in making me a better person.

The great good, they will never experience or appreciate.

I’ve had one of those instances recently. My friend will never see my current fitness level, appreciate how my mind has shifted, how my heart has softened, thanks to their influence. I will never get to say ‘thank you’ or tell them how much their influence meant.  

Just had to express that. Remember that when you plant seeds, let go of your expectations. Do it even when you know you’ll never experience the tree that seed becomes.

In the meantime, I continue on my path to betterment, as a gift to those I’ve lost.