The Large Impact of Small Words

            The other day I received a text out of the blue from a kid I went to high school with. We were on again, off again friends with no hard feelings when we parted ways at graduation, but also no promises to ever meet up again.

            Unfortunately our class was filled with cliques and drama so the chances of us ever having a reunion or meeting up in the future are slim to none.

            As a class though we experienced a painful tragedy when the mother of one of our classmates was killed in a car crash back in October. This boy was friends with everyone and the entire class took it very hard.

            For the sake of confidentiality I’m not going to include his name, but the text went like this:

            Hey Francesca, it’s        . I just read your bog about With Life, Come Lessons: Fearless. I haven’t really shared this with many people but ever since        ’s mom passed away (God bless her soul) I have been struggling to understand my faith and the concept of life and death. While struggling, the fear of death grew inside me. For two months that’s all I could think about. It was controlling me and I wasn’t the same person. After reading your blog I realized that we shouldn’t fear death. Reading that made me feel more accepting of death and to not let it control me while I’m alive. I just wanted to let you know that you helped me out without even knowing it.

            I didn’t start this blog for any reason other than to be able to express myself. I’m not trying to be a psychologist, or Dear Abby, but I want to help people. If publicly sharing my feelings over the internet helps someone cope with their own feelings and problems and perhaps change their view on life, I feel like I’m making an impact and doing good.

            That single compliment may have been one of the best I’ve ever received in my life. It’s incredible how much a few words can affect a person.

            I hope this blog has helped not just my friend from high school, but others as well.

            To the sender of that text if you’re reading this: thank you so much. Your kind words are the reason I continue to write and why I want to help people and make a difference in the world.