I recently read a story about the wife of the president of a large company who had a very bad evening at bridge. The next morning she vented her anger on her husband. When he arrived at work, he snapped at the vice president of the company for some minor problem. The vice president took it out on the office manager who turned on his secretary. The secretary then abused the office boy. He had no one lower than himself to abuse, so on the way home he kicked a stray cat. I find this an excellent example of the way that we are tied together in life. We do not live in a vacuum. Every action produces its reaction. Our attitudes and actions are like the stone thrown into the pond. What we say and do produce ripples everywhere. Nothing can be isolated so that it stands alone. Each of us has an influence on someone or something. That influence can be for good or bad. For example, five of the greatest physicists in the world after the Second World
War came from the same little town in Germany. Someone traced their record and discovered they all had the same high-school physics teacher when they were boys. Imagine, one unknown man was in part responsible for much of the advance of science in the world at that time. When we look at our own lives, we can see the same thing. We remember a parent, a teacher, or a friend who gave us valuable insights into life. We remember a business associate who gave us a break at the right time and place. So often at the time, these people did not know fully what they were doing or the significance it would have in our lives. But the ripple for us was powerful. The lesson for us is clear. Each of us counts for something, although often we do not clearly understand how profoundly we are, directly or indirectly, influencing other people. The next time your life seems insignificant, try remembering that. Someone said once, “Tomorrow’s harvests come from today’s seeds.” You may be sowing one that could make the world a different place.
