The Ripple Effect

Have you ever taken a few moments in time to just watch a body of water? The millions of molecules are so connected that the movement of one causes some movement to the molecules immediately surrounding it, and those molecules move the ones surrounding them and so on until the entire body of water is in a state of motion.

Human beings are a lot like molecules in an ocean. Our individual energies are transferred to every person we touch, whether physically, emotionally or mentally. In turn, the ones we've touched go on to touch others. With every interaction of our lives, a ripple effect is set in motion, and the entire world is shaped accordingly. Knowing this, I choose to make the world a better place every day by my good deeds.

It may sound far-fetched that I am changing the world daily, but it really is quite simple. Let's say that we each interact with five people per day, and each of those five persons interact with another five people by the next day, and each of those people interact with another five people the following day, and so on. It's simple to see how widespread one little interaction can reach.

So why not spread love?! I can assure that even the most antisocial person in the world needs love. It's who we are as human beings. We crave love. Every ounce of love that we each release into the world, makes the world that much better than the moment before. I have the perfect example to prove it.

Several years ago, I worked for a boss who was not quite the easiest woman to work for. She was often rude and curt to the employees on my team. Her standards were impossible and she rarely even smiled.

One Christmas, our team decided to exchange gifts among us. Someone on the team asked jokingly if we should pool together for a gift for our boss. Everyone laughed at the comment at first, until one of us suggested that we do actually buy her something. After a bit of deliberation, the team decided that we would do just that, and we did. We each pitched in about $10 and purchased a bottle of expensive scotch for our boss.

The day of the gift exchange, we were a bit nervous because we genuinely didn't know what to expect when she received our gift. She came into the office while we were in the middle of exchanging gifts to each other. She dropped off something work-related to one of the employees on the team and turned to the door to leave the office space where our cubicles were arranged. Before she got to the door, I called her name and told her that we had something for her. By the way she turned to look at us, it was obvious that the last thing she expected was a gift bag with her name on it. She stood there for a moment trying to comprehend the situation while we all sat there waiting for her to open it. Tears were visibly forming in her eyes before she peeked into the bag to see what was inside.

Before any tears could fall, she blinked them back and gathered her composure. She opened the bag and pulled out the scotch. The tension in the air was so thick because she was just silent as she looked at the gift in her hands. Finally, she asked how we knew to get her that particular brand of scotch. We didn't need to answer her question. It was already apparent to her that we'd done some asking around to find out what to get her. We had actually put in an effort to get her a gift that she would like.

For the very first time in our presence, an actual smile spread across her face. She thanked us, chatted with us for a few minutes, wished us happy holidays and left the office. From that day forward, she was different toward our team. She made a bit more conversation and actually greeted us when she entered the office before barking orders. Our time working with her became much more pleasant.

The point is this: the bottle of scotch meant nothing. It was just an inanimate object filled with a liquid that she would drink. The impact of that gift was all about how we made her feel for that day. She told us that she had not gotten a gift from anyone in over 10 years prior to that Christmas. She had no spouse, no children and very little living family to celebrate the holidays. Something that only cost $10 from my pocket meant a difference in someone else's world. For $10, I made someone feel seen, cared for, and not forgotten. From that day forward, she gifted us with a more pleasant environment at work. I can only imagine what other differences she made with the other people in her world too.

In that example, the world was changed. Her life was changed. As a result, our lives at work were changed. As a result, our lives outside of work were changed.

A small good deed is more than just one good deed for one person. One good deed impacts the life on a person who impacts the life of another person who impacts the life of another person, until the entire world has been touched and made better by the ripple effect caused by one good deed.