THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD US
No one crosses every bridge alone. Along the way, we are shaped by those who walk beside us.
Life has a funny way of bringing people into our lives when we least expect it.
Some stay for years. Others for only a short time. Some drift in and out of our lives almost without us noticing. Yet every now and then, we meet someone who leaves a lasting impression. Not because they set out to change us, but because they help shape the person we become.
When people talk about influence, they often think of famous figures, leaders or mentors. Sometimes influence is much quieter than that. Sometimes it comes from a conversation at the right moment. A few words of encouragement. Someone believing in us when we struggle to believe in ourselves.
Looking back over my own journey, I can see there have been people who challenged me to think differently, people who encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone, and people who helped me find confidence I didn’t know I had.
What strikes me most is that the people who build us are not always the people who agree with us. In fact, some of the most important lessons come from those who challenge us. They make us question our assumptions, test our convictions and think more deeply about who we are and what we stand for.
Trust plays a part too. Trust is a strange thing. It is not built through grand gestures. It is built through consistency. Through showing up. Through keeping your word. Through being there when things are difficult.
Many of us can remember moments when we felt lost, uncertain or overwhelmed. Often it is not a solution that helps us most. It is knowing that someone took the time to listen, to understand or simply to say, “Keep going.”
Those moments matter more than we sometimes realise.
As a survivor, a councillor and someone involved in politics, I have met many people over the years. Some have inspired me. Some have challenged me. Some have tested my patience. All have taught me something.
The older I get, the more I appreciate that none of us build ourselves entirely alone. We are shaped by our experiences, but also by the people who walk alongside us during those experiences.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons kindness matters so much. We rarely know the impact our words and actions may have on another person. A small act of encouragement that we quickly forget may stay with someone for years.
The people who build us are not always the loudest voices in our lives. Sometimes they are simply the people who appear at the right moment, say the right thing, or help us see something in ourselves that we could not yet see.
For that, I think we should be grateful.
Because none of us reach where we are entirely alone.