Butterfly Effect

Now, I'm not talking about the movie with Ashton Kutcher, although it is a good movie, and basically based around this concept of the Butterfly Effect.  This Chaos Theory called Butterfly Effect always interested me.  The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped it's wings several weeks earlier.   To think, theoretically, a small little action, like a butterfly flapping it's wings, can effect the waves of an ocean and can make such a huge impact.  It makes me think of all of our actions, big or small and the endless possible outcomes.

Can our actions, even the small ones, save a life?  Can one step shape our future?  Can the words we use impact the children of tomorrow?  Can our everyday decisions bring smiles and hope to the hopeless, change a nation, for good or for bad, bring peace to someone who is struggling, or turn our dreams into reality?  To all these things, I say, absolutely!

Now, maybe we don't have to walk on egg shells to make sure we live a perfect life, because that would be impossible; but we can be aware of the words we use and the actions we make around our family and our peers, and especially around children, who look up to us and are influenced by our every move.  Even little things like greeting someone in a store, opening a door for a stranger, helping a random person carry their groceries, returning a wallet that you found, smiling at a homeless person instead of looking away, playing with our kids outside; just like the theory, all these extremely little causes can potentially create a greatly huge effect.  That one action you made may have given someone hope to continue living or give them inspiration to live in grace and consideration.

Being able to give someone hope, show grace and consideration, has to be one of the best feelings.  Think of how much brighter our world would be, let alone our individual lives, if more people had a "pay it forward" mentality.  I was watching videos on YouTube about this one radio station that would go around drive-thrus and pay for the car behind them.  It was so inspiring to see the reaction of the people receiving the free meal or coffee, it made them want to do the same thing, thus starting a chain reaction of great gestures.

These little words, actions and decisions don't always have to be selfless.  The classes that we decide to take, the decisions to go or not go to college, that day we decided not to do drugs with our friends, the first step in applying for a job (even though it may not be your dream job), that scary moment that you decided to start your own business, make an investment, get married, have kids, take a break, retire, etc. can mean our entire future and the rest of our lives.  When we come to points in our lives where we have to make decisions that can possibly change and/or help shape our future, I feel that if we follow our hearts and reflect on the options we have available to us, we can't go wrong...even if our decisions lead us into a learning curve.  That learning curve can teach us about ourselves and give us insight as to where we want to go next.

Be brave and make your words and your actions count.
Here is the YouTube video I was talking about as well as another "Pay It Forward Random Acts of Kindness" video.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI3eHVwo-Ho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxrpO9vPeY0

-Rubi Anne Dijamco Agostini