Do you know that people are watching what you are doing right now? Are you inspiring the world around you?

A few months ago, a friend that I admire told me how much my story inspires her.  My immediate thought pattern was, but you are so inspirational, how can my story inspire you?

And then another friend told me how the Bible Study I started changed her life. I didn’t know that my choice to start a Bible Study would have such an impact on another person’s life. I guess I just did what I thought God wanted me to do.

My expectations were probably not as high as they should have been. I just was living my life. Sharing my story and experience with those around me. But my words, my actions, my life was inspiring others to make changes.

And for a long time, I did not even realize that was happening.

Is it even possible to realize how the actions you take have a ripple effect on the people around you? And even farther than that. One thing you do to change the course or inspire another could lead to an action that you will never even know about.

Your actions are shaped by your attitude. A positive attitude can bring so much hope to this hurting world. You inspire others every day and you don’t even know it. There are always people watching. Often, they are the two little people who live with me each day. They are always watching. They are learning from my actions and they are able to see the good and bad choices I make each day.

And it is getting exciting to see the hard work of trying to become a better person and get control of my personal issues. I still get angry. I have learned that is a normal part of life. It isn’t bad to get angry. It is how we respond that determines if our anger is dealt with in a positive and negative way.

Anger is a good thing.

It drives us to action. And the things we do when our fire is lit and pushing us to make a change can be amazing. But sometimes anger can get the better of us and our reaction can cause people to not understand our passion.

I recently witnessed this when someone cut in line for gas at Costco. The person she cut in front of lost his temper and attacked her with his angry words. He made a very negative scene. The workers who stepped in didn’t listen to him. Even though she had cut in line. Even though she didn’t follow the rules. She was still able to get gas. Because of his reaction, they immediately seemed to dismiss anything he had to say. Although he had already started to calm down by the time they got there to intervene.

My son and I talked about the loud noises he heard, I had hoped the car door being closed prevented him from hearing the commotion. But it did not. He asked me why the man was yelling. A past me likely would have said he was upset about something and quickly changed the subject. But instead of brushing off the situation. We talked about why he was angry. Was his anger justified? And what would have been a better way to deal with the situation.

It was a great teachable moment.

As we empathized why the man was so upset we discussed that he probably was having a bad day before this happened and it was the tipping point. There is often more to anger than one particular situation. And how we deal with moments from our day can have a major impact on what happens at the end of our day.

Are you inspiring the world around you in a positive way? Every action you take has the power to change the world. Even if just changes the world for you. You will be inspiring others with your words and actions.

You likely won’t even know it.

What can you do to inspire others? What are others doing to inspire you? Comment below with your thoughts. Who knows you may inspire someone with your words.