If you haven’t seen the movie the butterfly effect, go get it…it talks about one of my favorite topics – the perpetual cycle of [TAG-Tec]cause and effect[/TAG-Tec].

Everything that is, had a cause.

Everything that is, has an effect.

No thing can exist without having been ’caused’. Equally, no thing can exist without being cause (having an effect on other things)

So in essence, everything affects everything.

You impact the entire world.

Equally, so does your shoe string.

The question is: How are you impacting the world? What are you ’cause’ for?

You don’t realize how important to the world you are…the smallest, most ‘insignificant’ things you do can impact everyone around you and you wouldn’t even know it.

Everyone you encounter and everything you say to those people is part of the cause and effect cycle.

Have you ever thought about your impact on those around you?

Consider this scenario:

Every afternoon Anna goes to the same coffee shop, orders the same drink at the end of her lunch break, and then rushes down a busy city street to get back to work. What difference can she really make in this ritual?

This afternoon she compliments the work of the barista, Susan. This was the last order of Susan’s shift today. It had been a really rough morning, but instead of leaving work angry, she’s leaving in a better mood simply because her work was recognized.

From the coffee shop, Susan heads to a nearby day care center to pick up her son, Will, (where Anna’s positive moment will be passed on). Instead of impatiently loading the six-year-old into the car like she normally does, she takes a moment to listen to him explain a picture he drew for her. She praises his work.

This action is a boost to little Will’s confidence and makes him proud of his work.
Later, he draws another picture to give to an elderly woman who lives next door. It brings a smile to her face and she tells him that she will be showing all her friends.

Will, with even more confidence, decides to draw pictures for all her friends at the senior center down the road.

This is a simple start to what turns into a charity outreach to bring smiles to other seniors in nursing homes and senior centers in his town.

Jim, a lonely and grumpy senior at the center, sees the picture and inspired. Instead of allowing the 50 million dollars he’s stashed away and horded for years go to probate, he decides to donate it all to keeping art in the schools… impacting hundreds of thousands of children.

While this may sound a little far fetched, this IS how great things happen.

They start with one positive push that begins the cause and effect chain. The cause and effect chain can start small and become something great and mighty, as long as it keeps being positively reinforced.

Unfortunately the opposite is also true.

What if Will’s mother ignored him, insulted his drawing or treated it as trash; the effect may have been negative. The young boy could have been afraid to feel that rejection again, and kept his positive messages, and desire to make others smile, to himself.

Just imagine if Dr Martin Luther King’s parents would have told him “he was nothing…” or “he was stupid and would never amount to anything” etc. imagine where the WORLD would be.

Same for Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc.

These are the people who are viewed to have changed the world in a ‘big’ and ‘visible’ way. However YOU are just as important to the rest of the world.

Shame on you for not recognizing your greatness.

Study your impact.

Make a note of all the things you say or do when interacting with others. Are they positive or negative?

Are you having the impact on the world you had hoped?

If not, it’s time for change.

Practical Application
Realize this right now – YOU IMPACT THE WORLD…yes, everything you do, everything you say, impacts the entire existence. This is science. Not theory or some sappy attempt to make you ‘feel good’. This is scientific LAW.

So, when I say that the world wouldn’t be the same without you, I REALLY mean that!!!

You are an absolutely amazing person for making the world such a great place – thank you.

However, there’s a big responsibility that comes with that kind of power – use it wisely. Be conscious of everything you do and say because you are impacting everything.

Be Good
Be Safe
Believe…
Be ’cause’

Antonio