Everyone knows that when you toss a pebble into a pond of water that there are ripples that emanate outward from the spot the pebble entered the water. Regardless of the size of the pebble or the pond, there is always a ripple caused by the action. To expect the ripples to not occur or continue to it’s end is like suddenly doubting the sun won’t rise in the morning – not gonna happen. Ripples always occur… always. This is another ‘is’. I’m not talking about the size of the pebble/pond/ripple, I’m talking about the existence of a ripple.
In the same context, as much as we may desire to deny it, everything, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g we say or do sparks an effect, will cause a ripple… What you say and what you do doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and it never effects only you (and your ‘target’). Words and actions cause a ripple effect though sometimes we don’t see the extent to which the ramifications (ripples) from our behavior impact. This reality, though serious, should never occasion a paralysis of action on our part because even no action is and can become an action that creates an effect. A ‘better’ use of our time would be to become aware of how what we do and say affects others.
Knowing that unintended as well as predictable reactions will occur from our words and actions should never become more than our internal ‘check’. By this I mean that we need to think before we speak or act and not let emotions dictate. After having said that… I know we are all susceptible to problems because we all speak and act unthinkingly. But we also have within us the ability to control this ‘spontaneity’. And when we ‘check’ ourselves this does not mean subjugating our thinking and beliefs. Actually this speaks to intentionality and what our goals are for what we say or do. ‘Check’ is merely an internal alarm causing us to know and be aware of how we do what we do. For example: if we are attempting to communicate then yelling will probably not achieve acceptance or understanding of what we are saying.
Actually ripples aren’t necessarily bad or should cause fear because there are positive outcomes as well. Once we grasp that ripples always happen then we can also see how we can use this given to do and say those things that cause positive outcomes.Ripples can give us our internal standard to prejudge a potential impact. Again the example: if our goal is to communicate something then we need to be alert and aware of reception so that any questions about what is said is understood. This approach provides a preemptive awareness to issues that can arise.
