Ripples
We are all the bad guys in someone's story. We don't want to admit it, but it's true.
You don't have to be an ax murderer to be the bad person in another person's mind. Maybe one day you didn't pay attention and you cut someone off. Maybe you were having a heated discussion on your cell phone and you annoyed someone. Or possibly you apologized for something and the recipient never heard it, and now, forever, they are cut to the quick.
A sharp word, an inadvertent action, and ~POOF~ you are now a star in their "this asshole" story. They will tell this story to their families and friends, possibly at a party or a bar. Just know, there is a whole crowd that is hating on you for that moment.
Did you ever think that that anonymous person might not be so anonymous? That one day, you cut off the friend of a friend and you all go to the same gathering and they tell the story about how much of a jerk someone was, and you cheered on their angst, never knowing it was you.
Or maybe it's just me....
I see a single action like a pebble being dropped in a pond. It causes a ripple in the water that goes far away, long after the rock has hit the bottom of the pond. That 1 small action affects a much larger area...and the rock sits at the bottom, unaffected by the action it created.
We are not unlike that pebble at the bottom of the pond. We can do or say something that can affect someone's entire day and never even realize it.
It's not a superpower or anything, but it isn't that far off. Your words can change the path of someone. Encouragement can inspire a fellow human to do something they never thought possible A word of discouragement can stop inspiration in its tracks.
In the end...what we say matters, How we say it matters. It might not matter to the world, it might not be on the news or even make a YouTube video...but it matters to the recipient.
Don't get me wrong, we can't be responsible for how our words are perceived, but we can be responsible for the things we say. We are responsible for the ripples we sent out.
I remember a long time ago I yelled at a nurse after my sister died. I was not in my right mind. The one thing I will never forget was her face when I snapped at her. She was young and I was angry, and when she asked me if she could do something, I said, "You can bring my sister back!"
It was a cruel day....I think I might have been a story she told that night. Maybe not. I do know this....I've been nice to every nurse I have met since. Maybe one of the nurses I was nice to will reach the nurse I hurt and maybe inspire her to continue on and that patients are not all bad. It's not the only bad ripple I have sent out there. I have many more....but I figure, if I keep sending out positive ripples, it might help patch over some of the damage I did. Once damage is done, it can never be undone, but it can be patched and smoothed over. And that is at least a start.
You don't have to be an ax murderer to be the bad person in another person's mind. Maybe one day you didn't pay attention and you cut someone off. Maybe you were having a heated discussion on your cell phone and you annoyed someone. Or possibly you apologized for something and the recipient never heard it, and now, forever, they are cut to the quick.
A sharp word, an inadvertent action, and ~POOF~ you are now a star in their "this asshole" story. They will tell this story to their families and friends, possibly at a party or a bar. Just know, there is a whole crowd that is hating on you for that moment.
Did you ever think that that anonymous person might not be so anonymous? That one day, you cut off the friend of a friend and you all go to the same gathering and they tell the story about how much of a jerk someone was, and you cheered on their angst, never knowing it was you.
Or maybe it's just me....
I see a single action like a pebble being dropped in a pond. It causes a ripple in the water that goes far away, long after the rock has hit the bottom of the pond. That 1 small action affects a much larger area...and the rock sits at the bottom, unaffected by the action it created.
We are not unlike that pebble at the bottom of the pond. We can do or say something that can affect someone's entire day and never even realize it.
It's not a superpower or anything, but it isn't that far off. Your words can change the path of someone. Encouragement can inspire a fellow human to do something they never thought possible A word of discouragement can stop inspiration in its tracks.
In the end...what we say matters, How we say it matters. It might not matter to the world, it might not be on the news or even make a YouTube video...but it matters to the recipient.
Don't get me wrong, we can't be responsible for how our words are perceived, but we can be responsible for the things we say. We are responsible for the ripples we sent out.
I remember a long time ago I yelled at a nurse after my sister died. I was not in my right mind. The one thing I will never forget was her face when I snapped at her. She was young and I was angry, and when she asked me if she could do something, I said, "You can bring my sister back!"
It was a cruel day....I think I might have been a story she told that night. Maybe not. I do know this....I've been nice to every nurse I have met since. Maybe one of the nurses I was nice to will reach the nurse I hurt and maybe inspire her to continue on and that patients are not all bad. It's not the only bad ripple I have sent out there. I have many more....but I figure, if I keep sending out positive ripples, it might help patch over some of the damage I did. Once damage is done, it can never be undone, but it can be patched and smoothed over. And that is at least a start.
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