Yesterday I mentioned...

on Facebook and Twitter how wonderful it is to be told you were a positive influence in the life of someone during their formative years.  It's one of the highest compliments you can be given, in my opinion.

Then later in the day as I gave it more thought I came to the conclusion that there is a reason it's a higher compliment when our positive influence came when they were still young.  Why is that?  Because it shapes who a person is, and in general will matter in their life for a much longer period.

I love teaching tax preparation classes.  Not just because it allows me to use skillsets I enjoy using, or because I get lots of positive feedback that I make classes fun and entertaining.  Not just because I'm "performing" in front of an audience where it's very safe.  The reason is that I know my students walk away having learned something.  Maybe they don't learn every single thing I'm trying to teach, but they do learn the bulk of the material.  I'm making a difference not just in their lives, but in the lives of their future clients.

Making a difference in someone else's life is a wonderful thing.  When I was first out of high school and at my first military duty station, I coached youth sports in my free time.  I volunteered as a Big Brother.  Those were very rewarding for me.  Not just because they enhanced my performance evaluations at work.  Because I was making a difference.

When I worked at that school for all those years, we always began and ended the year with every single employee gathered for a meeting with the head of the school.  The man who was head of the school for much of my tenure there used to end each of those meetings by thanking us for the "most important work there is".  He was right.

Make a difference in your own life.  Make a difference in the lives of others.  You don't have to be in a classroom to teach or inform.  You don't have to be a Big Brother to mentor.

* * * * *

Other ponderings on a Friday morning:

Joe Biden says "get a shotgun" for home defense.  Really?

McDonald's came up with chicken mcnuggets.  Gotta love the counter-advertising campaigns that claim "...because chicken don't have nuggets".  Now the fast food giant is going to sell "Fish Mc Bites" to try to boost flagging sales of their Filet of Fish sandwich.  They're also going eco-friendly with their fish purchases.  McBites?  Seriously...

Let me see if I get this one straight.  Match.com is a dating site.  In their terms of service, they make it very clear that they do NOT do background checks on their members and that they are NOT liable for any injuries their members suffer.  They also make it mandatory to review their excellent "Dating Safety Tips".  But a woman who was stabbed by a man she met on the site and now she's suing them for $10 million because her lawyer claims they should have done more to protect her.  Did she not read the terms of service?  Did she not review and use the dating safety tips?  She met her attacker but stopped seeing him after eight days.  Eight days into meeting a new person they shouldn't know where you live yet.  Not when you met them on-line.

Now colleges and universities will have to provide access to sports programs to the disabled.  So strained athletic department budgets will have to be stretched further.  Yes, the disabled deserve access to everything.  But should a college that has men's and women's basketball now have to offer a varsity wheelchair basketball program?  Will Title IX be interpreted to require separate wheelchair basketball programs for men and women?  Was there a demand from disabled students for access to inter-university athletic competitions?

Is there some reason health insurers shouldn't be able to charge people who smoke more for health insurance?  That's part of the new rules under what we refer to as "Obamacare".  Seems fair to me.  Is there another activity we engage in legally where the proper use of the product will kill you?

This Date in History:

On this date in 1533, King Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn.  We know how well that ended for her.
On this date in 1755, Moscow University is established.
On this date in 1787, the largest battle of Shay's Rebellion takes place.
On this date in 1858, Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" is played at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter and becomes a prominent wedding processional.
On this date in 1881, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell found the Oriental Telephone Company.
On this date in 1919, the League of Nations is formed.
On this date in 1924, the first Winter Olympics begins at Chamonix, France.
On this date in 1945, the Battle of the Bulge ends.
On this date in 1961, JFK gives the first televised presidential press conference.
On this date in 1971, Charles Manson and three of his followers are convicted in the Tate-LaBianca murders.
On this date in 1971, Idi Amin leads a coup and becomes president of Uganda.
On this date in 1981, Jiang Qing, widow of Mao Zedong is sentenced to death.
On this date in 1996, Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the U.S. (thus far).
And on this date in 1951, Steve Prefontaine, perhaps the greatest runner in U.S. history, was born.