The Ripple Effect

There is a latent science guy in me. I have no formal education or training in any of the sciences, but am interested in a few, especially astronomy and quantum physics. It is the realm of anything is possible and a great mental playground for little kids like me. I love when science intersects with spirituality.

I find the concept of wave theory very interesting. Without getting too specific, when an action is taken and energy is produced, it comes in the form of a wave, like when a stone is dropped into a pond. The bigger the stone, the bigger the wave. The farther the distance it is dropped, the bigger the wave. But it is just one wave with diminishing ripples. If you continue to drop more stones, however you generate more waves. The closer together waves are, the stronger the force they exert. So, why did I have this nerdy discussion?

Because everything we do puts waves into the world.

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to put some good into the world. For the first 47 years of my life, I went through the planet like a hurricane and caused a lot of damage along the way. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if global warming was my fault. I heated the place up. I’m serious; I was a destructive force of nature during my drinking years. So, once I got into recovery, it was time to do some good.

It was an awkward process. I wasn’t very good at putting my wants aside for the needs of others. I wasn’t very patient. I wasn’t very grateful. I wasn’t very good at being good. But I kept doing it, a little bit at a time, like dropping stones into the pond. I started to generate a positive wave. I continued to drop stones in the pond as often as I could, from as high as I could. As time has gone on, I have started a ripple effect of good. It is what I love most about my blog. A dozen times a month, I publish another message of hope. It is how I build upon the wave of good that I have chosen to ride.

We all have a ripple effect on the world. Today, let’s make sure it’s a good one.

Thank you
Jim

James A. Francetich is a freelance writer and author. The opinions expressed are solely of the author and do not represent any community based recovery programs, private or public entities or any governmental agencies.