Secret Influence and Impact

What difference can someone make after they are no longer around? These two people made a significant impact on my life. Here are three secret impacts they made they did not know they were having. I wish I could tell them today what they did while they were living to have such an influence on my life. Who are you making an influence on? Are you intentional? What will they miss about you when you are no longer in the room?

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Transcript

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This is Tim Dutellis. Thanks for joining me today on the podcast. Uh, this is actually a special journal entry about legacy. There's two people in my life whom have had an impact, but they didn't realize it. And unfortunately, they have both since passed away. It's my mother-in-law and my father-in-law. Why is this such a strange comment to make that two people who are gone, you wish you could have told them the difference they made in your life? It's because you really couldn't then, because you couldn't see it until they were gone, because you felt what was missed. So I want to talk about that for a moment because you know, many people they they get caught up in, you know, what they're saying and doing today and what people see and what they know and what they comment about. But the reality is sometimes you just can't say what you feel because you don't know what you feel until it's missing. And what will people remember about you when you're not in the room, when your presence is missed? And so these two people, there are specifically uh three I would call secret impacts they made on my life that nobody knows about. And I want to share them with you today, not because I think you and I should emulate it or maybe even aspire to it, but we should be observant to how we deposit into others some kind of impact that will outlast the time we share with one another. And it could simply be you meet somebody for the first time and they never see you again, but they remember, wow, that person cared about me. So, first, my mother-in-law. Uh, the secret impact she made in my life was that she was a real listener, not a listener that was listening for something that they could then kind of respond and share what they wanted to share, but she really cared enough to listen to the point that her favorite place to have conversation with people was at her kitchen table. And that was the place she would invite you. And I remember going over to her home, and just the two of us would sit down and we would have conversation. Conversation that led from one question to the next, to the next, to the next, and she listened. Have you ever really listened to somebody or felt as if you were the only person in the room that they really were paying attention to? That was a secret impact she had on my life. My father-in-law, a secret impact he had on my life was that he was a provider for generations. He didn't realize it maybe in the moment, but he was so consistent and faithful in his work ethic to his career to care for his wife and his three children and his grandchildren, that after his passing, he was still helping and serving them in ways that I don't even know he knew he would. And a lot of that really stemmed from I'm gonna call his foundational beliefs in God, his work ethic, and his integrity. The man had a reputation that was platinum. I'm thankful for that secret impact that I observed. He was a stellar provider. And then the third secret impact that both of them had, this was a combined effort. They adored one another. I'm not talking loved and romance and flowers and chocolates. I'm talking adored one another. It was almost as if the universe was the two of them, and the daily dis discipline of caring and being attentive to each other's needs was not a duty. It was truly a calling. They adored one another. So I don't know where you are today. Are you listening well? Are you providing well? Are you adoring the person that you love most well? So thanks to my mother-in-law and my father in law for having an impact on my life as I reflect in this journal entry today. And wherever you are, remember, live a life of impact. That's a life worth living. Thanks for listening.