As a noun, the word influence means many things. I highlight just 4 of them. First, influence refers to the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others. Secondly, influence means the action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of another or others. Thirdly, a person or thing that exerts influence is taken to be an influence. Finally, for my purpose here, influence means the exercise of the power of influence by human beings.
All of the foregoing have at least one thing in common: a cause and effect type of relationship. For influence to mean anything, there must be something to act upon, and the action must show some effect. In the absence of an object of influence, the concept doesn't even exist; and when it brings no changes to the status quo, it can't be reckoned with.
According to the Law of Inertia, every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed. It is no coincidence that this law represents the first law of motion and one of the most basic yet extremely profound laws in the entire universe.
The physical implications of the law are two-fold. One, an object (of any kind) at rest will remain so forever unless acted upon by an unbalanced force, that is a force large enough to overcome the counteracting effect of the forces that keep the object at rest. Two, a moving object will continue to move forever without changing its speed unless forced to move faster, slower or to stop by an unbalanced force, that is, a force large enough to overcome the forces that have kept the object in its current state.
What do these mean in a practical sense? Simple! As a human being, no one's life will amount to anything unless they have been subjected to some influence. And what one's life will amount to will depend first on the magnitude of the force in action, and secondly on its direction - towards good or towards evil, towards success or towards failure.
Whether we call it motivation, drive or anything else, it's still influence. The good news for mankind is that one can mostly choose what influences one gets exposed to or succumbs to, at least after a certain threshold. As well, one can choose what sort of influence one exerts. As one who knows what he/she is doing, you want to watch what influences you; and as a parent, because your child(ren) can't effectively make this choice, you want to watch how you infleunce them and help them to make their choices carefully. It matters a lot.
I bet you want to think about this as you get on this year!
All of the foregoing have at least one thing in common: a cause and effect type of relationship. For influence to mean anything, there must be something to act upon, and the action must show some effect. In the absence of an object of influence, the concept doesn't even exist; and when it brings no changes to the status quo, it can't be reckoned with.
According to the Law of Inertia, every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed. It is no coincidence that this law represents the first law of motion and one of the most basic yet extremely profound laws in the entire universe.
The physical implications of the law are two-fold. One, an object (of any kind) at rest will remain so forever unless acted upon by an unbalanced force, that is a force large enough to overcome the counteracting effect of the forces that keep the object at rest. Two, a moving object will continue to move forever without changing its speed unless forced to move faster, slower or to stop by an unbalanced force, that is, a force large enough to overcome the forces that have kept the object in its current state.
What do these mean in a practical sense? Simple! As a human being, no one's life will amount to anything unless they have been subjected to some influence. And what one's life will amount to will depend first on the magnitude of the force in action, and secondly on its direction - towards good or towards evil, towards success or towards failure.
Whether we call it motivation, drive or anything else, it's still influence. The good news for mankind is that one can mostly choose what influences one gets exposed to or succumbs to, at least after a certain threshold. As well, one can choose what sort of influence one exerts. As one who knows what he/she is doing, you want to watch what influences you; and as a parent, because your child(ren) can't effectively make this choice, you want to watch how you infleunce them and help them to make their choices carefully. It matters a lot.
I bet you want to think about this as you get on this year!
