A Character's Influence

Have you ever fallen in love with a book?

Better yet, have you ever been one with a book? If you asked me on a scale of 1 to 10, how much I love Harry Potter Books I'd say 9 and 3/4's (nine and three quarters)!

But that's not what this post is about.

This is a post that is inspired by my favorite day of the week and the events leading up to me sitting before this computer and pouring my heart and bits of brain out! I read The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett yesterday. It's a story that follows a retired (or so he thinks) detective, Nick Charles, who is roped into a case and he does have some witty comebacks. I loved this one time, when Mimi, one the characters, asks him what he thinks of her and Nick tells her: "You're like everybody else. Some people like you, some people don't, and some have no feeling about it one way or another."

Isn't that brilliant?

Nick just answered and evaded the question at the same time.

So, what is it about Nick's statement that had my brain churning out an article? The words "like" "everybody" and "else."

Are you like everybody else?

Do you desire to be like everybody else?

I was woken up by my Mom at 6:24am to see Jackie off to school. As I saw her off, I could not help but wonder what more there was to people and their goals. Jackie is like Rubik's Cube. You know the puzzle that was invented in 1974 by the Professor Erno Rubik, originally called "the magic cube" and looks something like this:

​

She is also like the wind, she blows and slips right through you or hits you in the face when she wants to. I asked her "what do you hope to do with your life?" She laughed and waved at me and got into the van. I walked home because

1. I was hungry
2. I was cold
3. I had a story to write
4. I had gotten the answer I needed from her. "She will figure it out at her own time and in her own way."

I have read books, some great others have bored me, but from them I have learned so much and it's always a world of endless possibilities availed to you when you read them.

So, if I bring that back to reality and the life I lead, my question this week is "are you a character of positive influence?"

Are you the protagonist or antagonist in the lives of those you encounter?

Are you the hero/heroine or villain?

Because you never know just how much influence you have on those you encounter- and so, it's something to think about and you can choose at which point to be the hero or the villain and to what end.

Have a good week and do some good :-)

--
How can one change the world if one identifies oneself with everybody?