One of my Mum's favourite expressions was: "I am sick and tired of all of this" and I used to watch her stew herself into a state and then we all copped it! I determined I would never be like her and so most of my life have been somewhat of a doormat. People do or say mean things to me and I take it on the chin and when I have regained my equilibrium, step back up to the plate.

At least that's all I thought I did. But then I realised, maybe not so long ago that we are often performing for an invisible audience. There are people watching us to see how we react to what life is throwing at us, and the things we don't say are as important as those we do say. And it isn't the one with the loudest voice, who shouts the orders or bellows over the others and shouts people down who is the best respected person at the end of the day.

We are all subjected to outside influences, sometimes it is the media, the newspapers, the television or radio, the politicians, the authority figures, the important people, those are the ones who seek to influence us. But how often is the voice we recall the quiet one, the wise one, the seeming doormats of life? After all, before you open the door it is the message on the doormat that you see first.

One of the quietest women in my life died last week. Unmarried, no children to mourn her passing, just a handful of older women who remember her generosity and the fact that she never complained, never said a bad word about anyone. She had some strokes and lived the last ten years of her life in seclusion and then a nursing home. But she wasn't forgotten there. The quiet influence of her life embraced a lot of people.

Remember the saying:"The empty tin can makes the most noise?." lots of tin cans around these days. Don't let them be the major influence in your life. Listen for the quieter truer tones. Vale MD.