Every day you touch other lives and create a ripple in time of sorts that will have an unknown affect on the future. You don’t know what the affect will be and it is impossible to predict due to the random nature of life and events that take place therein. The affects of your actions are magnified over time as well, and seemingly minor things can have a profound impact on the lives of so many.
Most people live so in the moment and with so little thought about the consequences of their actions, or inactions, that they never realize the positive or negative influence they are exerting on the lives of others around them. They fail to realize how important their actions are in the grand scheme of things.
Each of us, barring mental defect, has in us when we’re young a desire to create a better world, to improve the lives of ourselves, our family and the world at large. Our minds are inherently wired to want to do good. Some believe this is a seed that God plants in our spirit when we’re formed. Others believe it is evolutionary as a part of our innate desire to preserve our species. Whatever the cause you believe, it is an undeniable characteristic of the healthy human mind and spirit.
Unfortunately, so many are exposed to such negative influences, especially when they’re young, that they lose touch with this part of their nature. Often it takes a traumatic life event to cause people to pierce through this veil of negativity to reconnect with this desire to better the world.
A great way to improve the happiness you feel in your heart is to consider the above two points and then to take deliberate actions to help, without desire for reward, someone in need. Perhaps you know someone that is hurting inside and you can be someone he can share his pain with, in complete confidence. Perhaps you can love someone in a way that touches her heart deeply when she is silently calling for help. Perhaps you can help a struggling family get medical assistance for their little ones. Maybe you can adopt a child.
And it doesn’t always require big things to change the world. We’ve all heard of the suicidal person that at the last minute bumped into someone willing to listen and share a little unconditional love. Sometimes a genuine smile can change a life at a critical instant.
Knowing you have set aside the anger, the hurt, and attention on self for just a moment to do some good for another, creating a positive ripple in the pond of life, and thereby affecting eternity, can be a very powerful medicine for your own heart.
Think deeply about this and give it a go!