Fingerprints

This post has been on my mind for a while, but I didn't feel like I could write it "in the moment" like I do many of my other posts, when the subject is still fresh in my mind. There were so many thoughts to put into words and so many parts of my life to observe and reflect on. Even now I feel as if there's so much more I could add.

Something very many of us scarcely realize is how much of an influence we have on the lives of those around us. We forget that family members, friends, and even perfect strangers are constantly watching us, most often subconsciously. Every act we make; every decision and words spoken leaves an impact on someone else. Some might even say it leaves an impact on the world, no matter how big or small.

I love how Grace Anne put it once, saying we’re all made up of the “fingerprints” of other people. Everything you've loved or been intrigued by has been a result of someone else's influence on you—whether intentionally or not.

We’re all mosaics of the people of the world. The beauty and the hurt, timid and the bold.

We carry more pieces of people than we realize.

There have been many fingerprints left on my own life; some blatant and obvious, and others that are small and unnoticed, yet make up so much of who I am. The way I take notes in class, certain words or phrases, my favorite songs, snowboarding, and how I make ramen are all fingerprints I've noticed in my own life. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.

So many areas of our lives came from a single impact someone had on us. And it beckons the question, “what fingerprints am I leaving behind?”

It’s terrifying, really, when you think of how much responsibility a single human is given. You have a say in how you’d like to impact the world, and you always will be a part of that impact whether you’re noticing it now or not. There will always be someone watching you. Always be someone looking up to you. Someone discovering something about you they love. Someone wanting something you have, whether that’s something physical or a characteristic you hold that makes up your personality. 

Yet on the flip side of that, some things are solely mine. Like the way I bite my lip when I’m thinking, my "system" for organization, how I’ve kept a journal since I was eight, and how I pronounce "milk"– to name a few.

You could see that as annoying or unimportant, or you could view it as a beautiful, powerful gift given by the Maker of the universe. And we can either use it to be a light for others or an arrow towards disaster.

When attempting to think of all the people who have left fingerprints on my life, even the bad fingerprints I can see how God has used to refine me. To challenge me to be careful with who I let influence me and become a part of who I am. It makes me think of the fingerprints I want to leave here, too. May we never forget the power we hold to influence someone's life, and the Creator who gave us the beauty of relationships and using each other to learn and to grow. ✨

What fingerprints have been left on your life? How do you make ramen? ;)

SHINE ON, 

BROOKLYN