Inspirational

Brian Jacques

Many people make incredible impacts onour day to day lives and who we become. Our families, our friends,our teachers, and even strangers on the same subway bus have thepower to leave little fingerprints on our souls. I would not be theperson I am today if it wasn't for all the books I've read.Literature teachers us countless lessons and morals that change ouroutlooks on life and how we act. Someone who has had a tremendousimpact on my life, was Brian Jacques and his book series Redwall.

He was able to physically show me thatthere is good and bad in everyone. He taught me that we are notdefined by the obstacles in front of us, we are defined by what wechose to do with them. Brian Jacques took countless amounts of peopleon incredible adventures filled with heroes, woodland creatures, andthe hope that good will always prevail. He's impacted thousands,maybe not in a huge way, but that's still pretty incredible.

Brian Jacques gave me a temporaryescape from my problems emotionally. Through flipping the pages, andwatching the battles practically fought in front of me with swordsclashing, I was able to forget the temporary thing that dragged medown. He used his words to paint beautiful scenery, colorful redroses with dew drops on the petals, large strong individuals doingwhat was right, graceful dancers seemingly not even touching theground and much more. After his pictures were painted and the readerseyes droopy, allowing a second outlook to a seemingly uncontrollableproblem wasn't as hard.

Brian Jacques used complex plots andmisunderstood heroes to teach me right from wrong. His writing taughtme to be brave even if only for a second. He taught me that the rightthing isn't always the easiest, and oftentimes the odds will bestacked against you. Brian taught me that if you love something youshould do it fearlessly because life's too short not to give ityour all. And most importantly, if you have the power to changesomeone's life for the better, you have to. Even if it's just asmile or a kind hello.

With every person we meet and everybook we read, we take a fragment from them that helps us build who weare. They teach us life lessons, some bigger than others, and we'lluse those to influence others. We get influenced by songs, movies,cashiers at the supermarket, and the old man in the retirement home.At first the message may be unclear but one day you'll need it, andyou'll be able to teach others what you've learned. I was just achild when I read his series, I grew up with his characters andfought alongside them with my own sword. I didn't get most of hismessages then, but they've stayed with me and have helped pave my ownpathway through life and the many others he's impacted.

Sometimes a hero doesn't need a sword.Maybe just a quill.