Be the Person Who...

We know darn well that the influence of a vital person… vitalizes. Well, we all have opportunities to be that person. We all can embrace OUR circle of influence to be that person. Read on! –the editor

This piece got its start when formulating an answer to the “What made Dolores so…? question (see previous post). Something we know here at Jedemi is that the influence of a vital person… vitalizes. She was vitalized by her Auntie and that went a long way towards making her the independent, self-assured and hella funny person that she became.

When thinking about her “Auntie”, I got to thinking about other vital people who influenced me. Keep on scrolling!

Be The The Auntie…

To start, let’s talk about her “Auntie” Alva.

Alva had a knack for picking up “strays” and nurturing them. She provided a loving environment with acceptance — so whatever living creature she adopted absolutely thrived.

From what I understand, Cousin Dolores and Mr Squeek, the cat who she spoke to early and often (AND he listened!), were a package deal. Welcomed into a loving home, Dolores had a safety net and really amazing role model as her Auntie was someone who’s behavior was worth emulating.

In that kind of environment, becoming self assurance was a natural by-product.

Worth noting… My husband, David was raised by “Auntie Alva.” She was his grandmother and took over after David’s mother passed away when he was only 4 years old. He, too, was exposed to a fantastic, loving environment which provided him with plenty of room for growth.

Duty. Responsibility.
Independence. Awareness.
These were taught and reinforced.

For me, David was a gift. As a result of this upbringing, he came out “fully formed” (which was ideal for me!). I wasn’t filling a hole in him (to make him whole) and he wasn’t for me. We were both fully-formed with room for improvement and enhancements —> the way 2 + 2 =7.

My sense is that once Dolores got away from the stepfather who pretty much undermined her self-esteem, she thrived in the healthier environment provided by her “adopted” mother– Auntie Alva.

Auntie Alva offered unconditional love (and loving environment)…

Key Learning: We all can be someone’s “Auntie”…

Be the Auntie!

When you have an Auntie Alva, you can relax and develop and not second guess yourself.

You can try things and adapt and try some more without fear.
You can adapt and flo and FLO some more!!

So why is environment key? As we say here at Jedemi, it just is…

Let’s roll into another example of a vital person: Super J — truck leader at TCS and (and Reacher look alike!!).

Be The Super J…

Super J was a super mentor for me when I was working at The Container Store (AKA TCS).

He constantly encouraged us to try stuff — try to solve on our own. We faced some interesting challenges. The cool thing is that he’d demonstrate his workarounds in a way that showed the thinking — logic— and then encouraged us: “Now you try…”

The feeling when you DID solve a problem… Whoa! Amazing!

And that feeling fueled confidence… and courage to keep on trying stuff.

The bonus? Big smiles all around and a thumbs up plus smile by him (he’s so Reacher!).

Oh and he was also cool when you found your own end-around that worked — a different but effective approach. High fives all around.

Anyway, our master MacGyver always shared knowledge. Also, always dropped what he was doing to help (giving of his time).

Key Learning: We all can be someone’s “Super J”

Accepting. Encouraging. Sharer of knowledge.
A booster of inner confidence…

And then there’s BG…

Be The BG…

Another super mentor at TCS, and fellow Gemini, BG was like Super J: accepting. encouraging. sharer of knowledge.

And her Plus-Plus was this reminder that she lived and nudged us to as well:

“We take care of each other…”

That’s right. No matter how much B.S. goes on in the ranks and turbulence from management, quite frankly, working in retail where the only constant is change, the thing to do is hunker down and work within your area of influence while also being acutely aware of what’s going on around you… your teammates may be experiencing some sort of disturbance in the Force.

aware. accept. adapt.
ENCOURAGE
flex-n-flo

She was a master at this and it rubbed off.

Key Learning: We all can be like “BG”

That’s a Wrap…

There’s a lot to ponder in what’s been written so far, so I’ll do us all a favor and wrap this up with one more ponderable.

I love one of the workout tips provided by a SoulCycle instructor (repeated between a batch of songs) on SiriusXM.
It goes something like this:

Remember when you walked into a room and someone smiled at you?
How it made you feel?
Be that someone.

[Paraphrased, but you get the point]

Please to ponder! -Annie (and The Gang)

Bonus…

Okay… one more thing. I was on a “Circle of Influence” thing (yes, that’s Covey!) and segued to “Circle of Life” (yes, that’s “Lion King“). And that brought me to this– a recording of a LIVE performance which, feels ALIVE!! OMG! For me (and us) chills.

Enjoy!!