Influence

Who has the most influence on you? 

If the president has a Petoskey Stone, is that enough for you to allow him to influence your life? Or does he automatically have influence over you because of his position? 

Does your family have the most influence on who you've become?

Is it your high school friends who helped shape you?

Were you completely turned upside down in college and greatly influenced by your college friends?

Is it your in–laws? Outlaws?

The people in your community?

Man's best friend!

The people you work with?

Your bosses? Your subordinates?

Is life a political journey? Is it the journey or the destination …

If you do something seemingly good for me, do I owe you?

Just because you (or someone like you — anyone, in fact) act like you're willing to give anyone the shirt off your back to help them, does that mean you're a good person? A good friend? How do we know if people are authentic? What if giving you the shirt off their back is a political move?

Despite this coming off as extremely cynical, does anyone do anything that's not politically motivated?

I know people who hired people because of the people that person was related to and it could lead to future employment for the original employer down the road. Yeah, that's purposely jumbled, but I think you get my point. Authenticity is tough to find anymore.

"If you do something seemingly good for me, do I owe you?"

 Politics. And the struggle to find balance in your own neighborhood. Yeah, that's the struggle, friends — finding the balance in your own neighborhood. That's the struggle. Politics have no business in the neighborhood. What would Mr. Rogers think? What would they think down on Sesame Street? Shouldn't that be the message we're listening to? Using your influence for negativity and political gain …  bad influence.