My head has been swarming with thoughts and very few are anywhere near coherent or blog worthy. I feel my blogging has drifted to the sidelines and in fact, my thought was to not blog today but just leave you with an image. I still will....at the end.
But then something amazing happened that changed my perspective. And that is a story worth telling.
Have you heard of the Butterfly Effect? I am sure many of you have but in a nutshell the idea is that a small change can have a huge effect. The flutter of a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane. Okay, I am not convinced that the storm effect is 100% true but the idea is still sound. Small changes can lead to huge effects. Do you agree? I hope so.
Today I woke up at 4:00 am and didn't want to get out of bed. In fact, the idea of curling up and staying all day in bed with darling daughter sounded like perfection. But I knew my pre-workout drink was waiting for me, I had to go to work, darling daughter had to go to school, so I pulled myself out of bed to see a text I received last night at 10:30 pm. One Boston suspect was dead and the police were going door-to-door for the second. Tears welled up, I got chills, and thanked God they were found. However, the news changed within minutes on my drive to the gym. The police were,and still are, looking for the second suspect. I felt sickened.Once I got to the gym there was a man curled up, covered, sleeping on the sidewalk. It made me nervous. I didn't like the feeling. I walked on. I felt bad. My run was emotionally hard and at 4.6 miles I started to feel the emotions settling and my head clearing. As the end of my run approached, the heaviness started coming back in. But something changed. Me. The run changed me.
As I walked out of the gym the man was still curled up sleeping but I wasn't nervous anymore. I felt compassion. I walked by, got in my car, and could only think - I want to give him something to eat. I sat there puzzled until I remembered I had a granola bar in my lunch bag. I grabbed it, got out of the car, and quietly left it by his side. I didn't plan to be sneaky but as I got closer I could only think, I don't want to disturb his slumber, I don't want to hurt his pride. And as I walked back to the car I smiled. I felt sneaky. Good sneaky. And that was my first smile of the day.
I typically find a smile or two during my runs but not this week. It took change. A change in my mindset and my perspective. I was feeling small and useless sitting here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. How can I make a difference anywhere it is truly needed sitting here? And then through a random anonymous act of kindness I found my smile. I made a ripple.
Each day we each get to choose to make a ripple or not. You may see my ripple today as small and it is. A granola bar is indeed small in the grand scheme of life. But each ripple we make grows. My little ripple here in the middle of the Pacific has already extended beyond my state and perhaps beyond my country. You are hearing about it right now...and perhaps sharing it. My little ripple has made a difference. But more importantly, my little ripple changed me. It made me smile. And when I am feeling happy and good about myself, I am a better mom, wife, and employee. A better me who will make more ripples. And it goes on and on and on.....
My little ripples will grow and bring happiness, strength, compassion, love, etc. around the world. Will you join me?
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for my first smile today.
Daily Affirmation: I am a good mom.
P.S. The image I was originally going to leave for you is below. I have prayed so hard this week. Harder than usual. And with that in mind I wanted to leave you The Lord's Prayer in a Wordle!
