The Influence of Others

People come and go in our lives, and we will meet some with different personalities and distinct character traits that will leave an influence on our life, either positively or negatively. However, which influence has a bigger impact on our lives; negative influences, or positive influences?

It is in my opinion that negative influences will tend to impact us more, and as pessimistic as this idea sounds, I have a reason for my belief. First off, I will need to explain a certain law of nature. In essence, all things work towards disorder, and order cannot be achieved without putting effort or energy into making it so. I believe this law works the same way for human behavior. The reason it is so hard for humans to stay moral and righteous is because it requires constant energy and conscious thought. It is much easier to become the ill-mannered of society because it requires less energy. It isn't socially acceptable, but it is much simpler. It is so much easier to change for the worse than for the good, because it takes less work.
Therefore, when those who are mild-mannered are mismatched with people who's ways are twisted and sinful, they often become less and less focused on doing the right thing, instead picking off on bad habits.

However, I have learned through observation and personal experience that a positive influence tends to have a much more powerful affect than that of a negative influence (despite my views, I still believe that light can overcome the darkness). Interacting with people who have made a difference is a real motivator and a powerful catalyst for change. However, what I realized is that those who continue to make a positive impact on the world are often forgotten, left out, or simply neglected, because one does not truly realize the depth of their deeds. Negative influences tend to stand out more, and I believe this is because ideals such as rebellion and potential conflict are more appealing to human nature.
Unfortunately when one does experience an impact from the positive influence of a person and wish to make a change, it is usually short lived as reluctance soon sets in, making one too lazy to carry out the work necessary.

Despite these tendencies, I believe positive impacts are powerful in the long run; one may fall short of standards and fall behind, but everyone stumbles sometime, and it is up to the determination of the individual to work towards becoming an upright person.