Tiny Ripples on the Pond of Life
Wed, June 21, 2017 A line in my song “Prodigal Child” goes:
“I used to lie in the long grass and watch the clouds go by, as a child my world was happy, only people made me cry.”
Sadly today it is still people who make me cry. I will go so far as to say there is not a single thing wrong with this world today if it were not for people.... Or to be more precise, people misbehaving.
Hardly a week goes by that there is not some act of terrorism somewhere. I can handle the occasional natural disaster, but I can’t understand why people can’t behave properly and not kill other people. It makes me sad… It makes me cry.
It seems to me the biggest drive in life is to affect the lives of others. We can do this in a positive way or we can do it in a negative way. Unfortunately many people do not figure this out.
Young people especially. Bullying, vandalism, destroying things, which if taken to extremes includes killing people. All effect the lives of others in a negative way. Events sometimes so horrendous they affect a whole nation, and even the World beyond.
If any good is to come from these insane acts, it can only be that we need to realize and teach our children that this urge to affect the lives of others is natural.
It takes almost no thinking or effort to do this in a negative way, when with a small conscious effort it can be quite easy to do so in a positive way.
Who knows what affect a simple smile, a kind word or action can have on the rest of the world.
For every action there is a reaction. Actions both good and bad have a ripple effect, cause a chain reaction so to speak.
Like a ripple, the affect has most of its power felt by those close to its source, further out the ripple has less affect.
However, ripples can start small, cause others to join in, and they can gain energy and travel far. A harsh word or unkind act can ruin someone’s day and may push someone who is unstable enough over the edge that they might just kill someone.
Giving the finger to a fellow traveler on the highway may cause that person to drive angrily and aggressively, resulting a crash that kills someone. On the other hand a small ripple started by a simple smile, if joined by enough other small ripples can form a large wave that travels far, and affects a lot of people.
Today I will try not to let the rudeness and negative acts of others affect me. If it stops with me, at least I am not passing it on where it might gain momentum. I will try to start my own tiny ripples, with positive thoughts and actions. Who knows, it may just gather momentum, travel round the world and come right back to me.
How do you deal with negativity?
To Share click "Share Article" below.
Reader Comments (4)
With all the NEGATIVE and often FAKE NEWS we seem to get this, who do we believe? BUT once in a while we get news, as I did a few days ago, this was NOT fake news by any means, News that jolted me and made me realise just how precious and delicate our lives and our loved ones lives are. Our daughter in law Jen 40 years old, my sons wife and mother of his three boys, had cardiac arrest and for all purposes had died, BUT thanks to modern technology was saved and will live and be OK BUT what is even more terrible IS that there are people so filled with hate they would kill for revenge, over POLITICS????
"It seems to me the biggest drive in life is to affect the lives of others. We can do this in a positive way or we can do it in a negative way. Unfortunately, many people do not figure this out."
Except that what seems a negative way to the victim and many observers can be viewed as a positive way by the perpetrator and other observers.
No one pays attention to people leading normal, unexceptional, traditional lives. Not that we who live them need, nor want attention. But, people are conditioned to seek, obtain, and validate their lives through attention. To remain relevant, in their world, they must constantly update their status, compare others to themselves, and get as much attention as possible.
Otherwise they will suffer the greatest fear of all: no one notices them. They are selfish.
Being kind, courteous, friendly, mannered, virtuous, moral, collected, proper, chivalrous, is…boring.
That’s the way of the world. At no time in history have people become so enamored with social media (yes, there has always been social media, spoken, written or otherwise). Guess what kind of people get the most attention?
thank you, Dave!!