“Wow, she’s opinionated,” my four-week-old daughter’s pediatrician exclaimed after seeing her display her inherent personality. I smiled, but silently wondered how her opinions would play out when she got older. It didn’t take long to see. Months later, it was clear no toy in front of her would entice her to crawl. She crawled when and where she wanted. She was a born leader. Fifteen years later, her opinions are further formulating and she still freely shares them.

When she was in elementary school, I wrote her special encouraging notes for her lunchbox every day. I didn’t ask myself how giving her encouraging notes would play out when she got older, but when I was discouraged with a long recovery from a car accident, I found out. She presented me with a page containing a couple of my notes I had given her over the years along with a few of her own now for me–just to encourage me in my day.

So often we go about our day not paying close attention to how what we say or do will play out over the long haul. What kind of an impact could it make if we did?