One Word

I had an interesting conversation the other day.

The main analogy was that of a rock, thrown into a pond. The rock only knows it hit the water, but can't see the ripples that spread from its impact. Someone watching from above, however, can see that the entire body of water is disturbed. It sounds simple, but many people don't realize that their actions affect other people. As a rock, we usually assume that our actions only affect us, and those we're directly affecting with our actions. But in reality, we're jumping into a pond: ripples spread.

Lately, there's been this 'six degrees on separation' experiment going on. Basically, according to theory, you can relate yourself to anyone else on earth within six other people. As a result of that, any action you take only needs to make six jumps to potentially affect everyone on earth. Although our consequences are rarely that drastic, you can clearly see how much our actions chain from one to another.

For example, offending a stranger might not seem like such a big deal - I mean, you'll probably never have to see that person again. But that stranger might be a friend of a friend, and what if that stranger says, "Hey, you know your friend Justin is a big jerk!"? Indirectly, you've just affected yourself and at least two other people, and probably lowered your friend's opinion of you.

What happens if you sleep with someone? Well, if you or that someone had a boyfriend/girlfriend/secret admirer, they'd probably be upset. And your friends might be concerned. And your friend's friends might get concerned, and so on. It sounds complicated, but think about it: how many of you are concerned about me, because I worry too much about other people? The chain keeps stretching on and on. One simple action can affect hundreds.

I hope it's very clear that one simple, 'harmless' action can have huge repercussions. I'm usually standing above the pond - watching the ripples is my job. And I can tell you that one careless action can hurt hundreds, but one kind word can touch millions. Don't underestimate the power of your words and actions and thoughts - you can kill or save with just one word.

Be careful.