HAVE you ever walked into a fish market?
You do not need anyone to tell you that you are in a fish market. You smell it.
Walk into a perfume shop, and you immediately notice something different. The air carries fragrance. Walk into a bakery, and the smell of freshly baked bread welcomes you before you even see the shelves.
The environment speaks to us, often without words.
I sometimes think life works in the same way.
The environment we live in, the people we spend time with, the conversations we listen to and the values we repeatedly encounter can influence who we become. We may not notice it happening, but slowly, the environment leaves its scent on us.
This does not mean that our environment determines our destiny. It does not.
But it certainly influences us.
Throughout my own life, I have learned that the people and environments around us can either expand our possibilities or quietly limit them.
As a young person, education exposed me to people, ideas and possibilities beyond the immediate environment in which I grew up. Later, my years in public service exposed me to different communities, personalities, institutions and challenges.
Business brought another environment – one that taught me about risk, relationships, competition and opportunity.
Community work introduced me to another dimension: service, culture, responsibility and the importance of giving something back.
Each environment taught me something.
Some taught me what to do.
Others taught me what not to do.
And some taught me the kind of person I wanted to become.
Looking back, I realise that life is not only about the experiences we have. It is also about the environment in which those experiences take place.
If we constantly surround ourselves with people who complain, eventually complaining may become our language.
If we surround ourselves with people who see problems but never solutions, we may begin to believe that every problem is impossible.
If we live in an environment where dishonesty is normalised, we may eventually stop questioning it.
But the opposite is also true.
Spend time with people who are curious, and you may become more curious.
Spend time with people who believe in learning, and you may become hungry to learn.
Spend time with people who serve others, and you may begin to ask how you too can contribute.
Spend time with people who challenge you to become better, and you may discover abilities in yourself that you never knew existed.
This is why choosing our environment matters.
But there is an important qualification.
Environment is not destiny.
A person can come from a difficult environment and still rise above it. Someone can grow up surrounded by limitations and decide to pursue possibilities. Someone can be exposed to negative influences and consciously choose a different path.
We are influenced by our surroundings, but we are not prisoners of them.
We still have the responsibility to choose.
This is perhaps one of the most important lessons I have learned along the way.
We cannot always choose the environment into which we are born. We cannot choose our childhood circumstances, our first school, our first workplace or every situation life puts before us. Some environments shape us before we are even old enough to understand their influence.
But as we grow older, we gain something precious: the ability to choose the environments we enter and the people we allow to influence us. That choice becomes increasingly important because, over time, our surroundings can quietly shape our attitudes, habits, expectations and even our understanding of what is considered normal.
Who do we listen to?
Whose advice do we value?
What conversations do we participate in?
What kind of behaviour do we tolerate?
What kind of people do we want around us?
These questions matter because influence is rarely dramatic. Most of the time, it is gradual. We do not suddenly become someone else. We become who we repeatedly practise being.
The environment around us provides cues, examples and expectations that can make certain behaviours feel normal.
Research on behaviour and habits similarly shows that context can trigger and reinforce patterns of behaviour. What we see repeatedly, hear regularly and experience consistently can eventually become part of the way we think and act.
That is why I believe we should be intentional about our environment.
If we want to grow, we should spend time in environments that encourage growth.
If we want to become better leaders, we should be around people who are willing to challenge our thinking, not merely praise us. Constructive disagreement can sometimes teach us more than comfortable agreement.
If we want to serve our community, we should spend time with people who understand that leadership is not about position but responsibility.
And if we want our children to become good human beings, we must remember that they learn not only from what we tell them but also from what they see us doing.
In the end, choosing our environment is not about avoiding everyone who thinks differently. It is about being conscious of what we repeatedly allow into our minds, our homes and our lives.
In the end, perhaps life is a little like walking through different markets and places.
At the fish market, you smell fish. At the perfume shop, you smell perfume. At the bakery, you smell freshly baked bread. Each environment has its own character, and when we spend enough time in a particular place, something from that environment tends to stay with us.
The same is true of life. The people we spend time with, the conversations we listen to, the values we observe and the environments in which we work and live gradually influence who we become. Sometimes we are changed without even realising it.
The question, therefore, is not simply: “What environment am I in?”
The more important question is: “What is this environment making me become?”
And perhaps an even more important question is: “What kind of environment am I creating for the people around me?”
Because influence works both ways. We are shaped by our environment, but we also shape the environment of others.
A leader can make a workplace fearful or inspiring. A parent can make a home anxious or encouraging. A community leader can create division or unity. A friend can pull us down or lift us up.
So, let us choose wisely. Let us seek people who make us think, environments that make us grow, communities that encourage us to serve and relationships that challenge us to become better human beings.
We may not be able to choose where we begin, but we can choose where we go. We can choose who walks with us.
And, most importantly, we can choose what kind of scent we leave behind when we eventually walk away.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at alimimpira@yahoo.com
