Day 8 Blogging Olympics: My Favorite Mentors

Books, Books, Books - LOVE Them

The Day 8 challenge for the Blogging Olympics is to write a post about your mentor that tells about them and why they are special to you.  I struggled with this one, because I have so many mentors. Every member of my family is a mentor in one way or another.  Every friend is a mentor in another way.  Every person who touches my life teaches me something is essentially a mentor.  Since the definition of a mentor is either 1) a wise and trusted counselor or teacher or 2) an influential sponsor or supporter, I feel like I have many mentors.

This may seem a little silly, but my favorite mentor is actually a collection of mentors. They are the writers of the many books I’ve read and been influenced by. Everything from self help books to business books to romance books to horror books to science books and more. I love to read and have read so many books in my lifetime.  Each book adds something new to my perspective and knowledge of the world.

As a little girl, I used to hide under the covers with my flashlight so I could join Nancy Drew or Trixie Beldon on their mystery adventures or Anne of Green Gables as she found her way in life.  Any book I could get my hands on became my current obsession. I devoured books daily and nightly.  It’s only been in the last four or five years that I’ve slowed down on reading so many books all of the time.  Now, I average about a book a week and somehow never have time to update my Good Reads shelf!

So the mentors, I’m writing about are the authors who have created the books that have been able to either transport me to another place OR who have helped change my personal world.  The authors are varied and include everyone from Stephen King to Stephen Covey to Nora Roberts to L.M. Montgomery to hundreds possibly thousands more.

Of course, I have personal mentors comprising of friends and family who have influenced me greatly, but if when I consider the effects that authors have had on me, I have to say that they are my main mentors in life.

I realize I could have written about a specific person, but when I really thought about it, books have been my greatest influencer and mentor in life. Because books would not exist without the authors, I consider the authors themselves to be my mentors. Even though I probably haven’t met them in person, their words are inspirational for me.

When I was in my late teens, I read my first “self-help” book and it changed my perspective and started a much more enlightened and inspirational journey in life.  The book was 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.  I didn’t understand all of it or agree with everything in it, but through the years I find myself picking it up and re-reading a chapter here and there.  I always find something pertinent to my life at the moment and feel a bit more focused in general after visiting through his books. 

Not too long ago, I read in the newspaper that Stephen Covey died from a bicycle accident and I definitely feel a sense of loss.  This is truly a loss of a legacy of help and learning.  He had such a profound impact on me and will continue to inspire me through his books and I suspect generations of others will be touched by his works through the years as well.

So although I genuinely feel like all of the books I’ve read and the authors who created them have been mentors, Stephen Covey is the one I mentioning specifically because he died recently and he will be missed.

Do you consider any authors to be mentors or at least strong influencers in your life?