What you do impacts everyone you know

This week I feel like I have been riding on an emotional roller coaster because of something someone else did that greatly impacted my life. It was a very selfish act on their part and I don’t think they truly understand the turmoil that they have caused in multiple people’s lives.

To often people make completely selfish decisions and do things without any thought as to how their actions will impact other people. Believe it or not, life is a series of chain reactions–or falling dominos. We don’t really think about how what we are doing impacts the rest of the world, but we should.

This video clip from Benjamin Button is the best way I can describe what I am referring too.

Everyone makes mistakes and that is the reason that forgiveness exists. At times we all hurt each other, disappoint each other, go places we should not go, do things we should not be doing, lie, stretch the truth, and forget that we are not the only person in the world. In doing these things we create a chain reaction, a domino effect, a collision course, or whatever you choose to call it.

I wouldn’t go to the extreme they do in the video clip and say that a person oversleeping or stopping for coffee will cause another person to get hit by a car, but hopefully you understand the point that I am trying to make. We are all connected to each other in some way and our actions impact the people around us. 

I am not perfect and I am sure that there are times where I have been completely selfish but I do my best not to be selfish. I try to consider how my actions will impact my family and friends. Some people are spontaneous or impulsive, I am not. There is nothing wrong with having those traits if your actions will not harm the people you love. Spontaneously deciding to go out to dinner is one thing, attempting to swim across the atlantic ocean without taking the proper precautons is another (this is hypothetical of course). The latter could harm the people you love if you drown and these are the type of things we must consider in life.

Sometimes we just need to stop and think before we do things. We need to ask ourselves if it is worth it and if we could potentially hurt or upset another person in the process. Chances are if it is a selfish choice, the answer will always be yes.

When you make reckless choices and do dangerous things, a chain reaction is what it brings.