This column launched five years ago this month and I marvel, as some of you may, that it has held steady week after week.

Why? For anyone who has embarked on a ritual of any kind — and this column is just that to me — whether it be a sanctified one, or simply holding to a new health regimen demanding increased exercise each week, it is a testament of faith and endurance whenever it is maintained over the long haul.

Like a ritual, in order to do this column, I have sometimes had to go way deep into myself to pull up the energy, to access just the right words, ones that just might open a space for new growth. Some weeks as I’ve planted myself in front of my computer, or writing pad when traveling, I’ve had to remind myself that it all matters.

Those are the hours I know I am not quite myself, because I am either distracted by personal obligations, or tending to a cold or arthritis. It’s then that I have had to jolt myself into remembering that what I am doing with “Tell Giselle” is worthy of one’s time, your time, my readers, and my own.

Part of what has held my attention and loyalty to this work is understanding that what any of us put out into the world will always, unfailingly, create a ripple. Sometimes we can easily see the effects, but much more of the time we are oblivious to the consequences of our actions. Whether good or bad. Whether inspired or not. Truth be told, what we say and do, or don’t say and do, carries with it an echo that never fails to be heard across the distance and years.

Because of the reactions of gratitude that I got over the decades to my work and writing, I was fortunate early on to realize how critically important it is to carry one’s gifts into the world as though holding a delicate and rare treasure. It is an offering of inestimable value. Bottom line is, whatever we do, we influence other people. We can even change the trajectory of another’s life, with a simple statement or gesture that may not even register in ourselves as it comes off our lips or hands.

What we are here to do, what matters most to each of us, can change from day to day, depending on what side of the bed we roll from. As we age, that bed side can look pretty darn questionable, and from either side, as we must deal with increasing aches and pains and frightening diagnoses. But no matter what the day may look from that side of the bed, once we plant our feet on the floor, our spiritual agency remains our responsibility. That doesn’t change, and that truth is something that becomes clear to some of us more quickly than to others.

Sometimes it may seem like other people are just never going to get that lesson. No matter. Our focus is to be pivoted back to our own inner thoughts and experiences. We are to do what we can with what we have, in the time we have, in the place we are, with what means we possess, with what understanding we have attained, with what strength of heart and integrity we anchor ourselves to, and rise above the noise so we can bring forth our voice.

“Tell Giselle” has been my voice, one that I’ve been hosting in myself ever since grade school. That’s when I realized I had some answers for myself. Some answers were of value to a few of my friends and siblings, and to young folks who didn’t seem to have the access to happiness or confidence, who didn’t possess quite the degree of curiosity to the same degree that I experienced.

We all come into this world as a misfit to the times. I accept it takes more than a bit of hit and miss, trial and error, and plenty of bumbling our way through the challenges we encounter in order to finally grasp the last thrilling piece in the puzzle of this life. I am not sure what the puzzle is ultimately going to look like as my concept of the puzzle is one that has no clear boundaries, nothing that limits the edges.

But what I am certain of is this: readers of my column “Tell Giselle” that runs in Cornelius Today and elsewhere has gone viral with the help of my extended circle of devoted readers, are all precious and unique components of my life’s puzzle.

Thank you all for supporting local journalism and the opportunity it provides to share my take on things. Thank you for trusting what I offer. Here’s to many more questions and replies to come, God willing and the creek don’t rise.

Giselle M. Massi is the author of “We are Here for a Purpose: HOW TO FIND YOURS,” the novel “Just Dance the Steps,” and a romantacy called “WYNTER’S DREAM.” Giselle was a journalist with The Denver Post for 16 years and writes the newspaper advice column TELL GISELLE. Contact her at www.gisellemassi.com.