Thirteen reasons for Lent

As promised, here is a picture of me with red hair. I'm still getting use to it, but I've received many compliments on the color so I think I'll keep it for a while. One thing that was a little hard to adjust to was that some colors of clothes look very strange with my new hair color. And also the sly comments about gingers not having souls, for which I'm starting to feel offended by these comments.

But dyeing my hair red had nothing to do with Lent, until recently. I was trying to find something to give up cold turkey as most people do for Lent, like Facebook or texting, but that almost never works. To those who give up Facebook for Lent, mad props to you; you have much more will power than I will ever have. I try to better myself somehow during Lent, such as eat healthier, exercise more, or cut back on computer usage. This year, I want to try and be more emphathetic.

I read a book called "Thirteen Reasons Why", which is about Hannah Barker, a girl who records the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide, and sends the tapes to each of the people she feels is responsible in order. While it was her own decision to take her own life, it's important to realize the impact we have on each other's lives. It's impossible to know every detail of everyone's life or what's truly going on in their heads, but sometimes offering an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on can be the best way to reach out to someone. "I guess that's the point of it all. No one knows for certain how much of impact they have on the lives of other people. Often we have no clue." ~ Hannah Barker

As a communication major, I kind of already realized this, but I can now see how it affects my life, and possibly the lives of others. It's hard to believe how one person, whether you truly know them or not, can have such an impact on your life.
I can think of one example: there was this guy in some of my classes during my first semester of freshman year. He knew one of my brothers before we actually met, but I didn't want him to have this idea of who I was based off of my brothers (mainly because he was very cute and I didn't want my brothers to scare him away). Anyway, we were partnered quite a bit for assigments in class and sometimes with this girl named Rachel. Although I still see him quite often around campus and had a few other classes with him, we didn't really become friends (other than on Facebook, but that doesn't really count). But the girl, Rachel, she's now one of my best friends in the entire world who will be traveling with me to Africa in May.

This guy doesn't realize what he's done in my life, but for what's it's worth, I'm incredibly grateful. Even if you just glance at someone, you don't realize how much your life can potentially change. When people meet me for the first time, glance at me, or know me and talk with me, I wnat to leave a positive impression on them that they can remember me by. That's why for Lent I'm starting to take more consideration in how I interact with others, because how I interact with someone could make all the difference.