Quick note before we jump in. The Optimistic Outlook book is now available on Amazon. It brings together the best posts from the last year of this newsletter. This is the last day to order it to have it there by Christmas.

Weight is not just a number on a scale.

The weight I am talking about is influence. It is the way other people look to you, seek your approval, or compare themselves to you. It is the way others measure their behavior against yours.

Years ago, my brothers and I, as adults, were having a difficult conversation with our dad about the influence he still had on us, even though we no longer lived under his roof.

I used an analogy I thought would help.

I told him he was the head of the snake. No matter how old we were, he would always be our dad. Whether he wanted it or not, his words, reactions, and example still traveled all the way down to us. Candidly, the conversation did not go very well.

A few weeks later, I shared the experience with a mentor and asked what I could learn from it in my own life. He said something that stuck with me.

“For the rest of your life, you will carry this weight around.”

Sometimes the influence is earned. Sometimes it is given. Either way, the weight of influence is not a burden; it is a privilege.

The real question is not whether you carry the weight. You already do. The question is how you choose to carry it.

Today, you recognize the honor it is to have people watching how you behave, how you lead, and how you treat others. You understand that influence is not something to escape. It is something to steward.

I hate to turn this uplifting message dark, but if someone asked you on your deathbed how you want to be remembered, the answer would most likely not be about titles or accomplishments.

I imagine it would sound more like this, “I was the best parent, spouse, friend, or human being I could be.”

That weight is worth carrying.

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