Have you ever stopped to think about how the decisions you make affect everyone else? Maybe, not even a mass audience, but a small crowd? Every day of my life, whether I’m having a great day or the most horrible day ever, I sometimes have to stop and think of the people are depending on me to make things happen or get things done.

Before my brother passed away about three years ago, I had a careless attitude about a lot of things and never understood why people took things so seriously. It wasn’t until he passed that I realized that things are more serious than they appeared to be. At that moment in my life, I decided that whatever I decided to do with my life, I wanted to touch people either in a major way or a simplistic manner.

It saddens me how people joke about drunk driving and cyberbully for fun and games, but its not so funny when it’s your relative – your friends – or yourself. Of course, I am not perfect, and I make mistakes all of the time, but I am quick to hide what I am going through in order to make sure someone elses’s day is brighter than mine.

Sometimes it makes all the difference in the world to stop and speak or indulge in a quick conversation with someone you know or don’t know. It’s those little, simple things that get some people through the day.

Be the light, not the darkness.