Jackie Danicki

Adriana told me a story when I was in London the other week, about going into a restaurant with our friend Brian. Some guy rushed up to him and said, “You’re Brian Micklethwait! I’m a vicar because of you.” (If you know Brian and what a strident atheist he is, there is considerable humor in that element of the story.) Turns out that the guy had heard Brian speaking somewhere once, and Brian said something about one’s life’s work that really resonated with him. So he followed the path he really wanted to follow and became a man of the cloth.

Adriana’s point: We do affect people, and we have little or no control over who is affected. All we can do is our part and let go of the outcomes.

I keep seeing this in my life - people having a huge impact on me who are totally oblivious to it. I try to tell them about it, because I appreciate it when people let me know that something I’ve done or said has touched them in some way.

Today, a very young man - a convict who is trying to put his life right - looked me in the eyes and said, “Thank you for raising this topic. I needed to hear what everyone has to say about it.” Well, so did I, which is why I raised it. As ever, the gifts of being open were greater than I had anticipated. It was a powerful moment, and reminded me that being open and asking for help is not something that only helps me and screws everyone else (which is what I tend to think). Sometimes other people benefit from it, too.

Filed under: Life