Pay it forward…a quote that is so powerful in our society.
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Treat others as you would like to be treated. Sounds simple enough and is probably something you’ve told your kids a time or two. But when it comes to actual practice, sometimes that old adage is easier said than done. Our own personal agendas or hurts take precedence over kindness to others, as we go along our busy day.
Pay It Forward and the Butterfly Effect
(As it relates to chaos theory) the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere (thanks, Google). In other words, the tiny beat of a butterfly wing has tremendous ripple effect on all things surrounding it, thus having a ripple effect on the universe. So, if this is how the small wing of a butterfly can impact the universe, then what impact can a single human interaction have likewise? Remember that person you cut off in traffic this morning (or the person who cut you off)? Think of the feeling you had after you experienced that. Most likely, that feeling carried into your next action and the response of the person on the opposite end carried into their next action.
Change the Paradigm
When we’ve had a morning that seems to go all wrong (the kids didn’t want to wake up, you and your partner had a disagreement, traffic was backed up), it’s easier to let the rest of your day follow suit. Think of the number of times you’ve said something along the lines of, “I just need this day to be over.” Instead of allowing the events in our lives to control how we feel or how we respond, be deliberate in having a positive response even when you feel least like being positive.
In this week’s Five-Minute Thursday, Larry shares an incredible story of just that: positive human response to an otherwise ugly situation. The beauty of human kindness permeates even the toughest circumstances. It shows that treating others the way we would like to be treated transcends all social and class barriers and reminds us that we all have one thing in common, our humanity.
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Originally published on The Good Dad Project
Photo—Eli Christman/Flickr