Understanding the Ripple Effect in Everyday Life When you throw a stone into a pond, you'll see a splash and hear a specific so...
Understanding the Ripple Effect in Everyday Life
When you throw a stone into a pond, you'll see a splash and hear a specific sound generated by the stone's contact with the water. You'll notice circles rippling out from the point where the stone hit the water. The stone touched the water only once, but the number of waves was far more than that. Did you also notice that you did one simple act of throwing a stone, but it resulted in several waves traveling in all directions to a large distance? This is what we call the Ripple Effect.
If you closely observe your day-to-day life, you will notice that most of your acts generate ripples in society, affecting many people either positively or negatively. If you are doing a positive act, the ripple effect is going to be positive. For example, if you help your friend or colleague, there is a high chance that they will help you and others when they find you or others in need. Hence, positive acts result in positive ripples, while negative acts generate negative ripples. Since this article is going to be read by all kinds of intellectuals, I will summarize some basic examples of positive and negative ripples.
Examples of Positive Ripples
Sharing Inspiring Content: When you share an inspiring article, video, or story with your friends through email, Facebook, Google Plus, blog, website, or any other online media, it will have a positive impact on hundreds of lives. For example, if you send this article by email to 100 friends and only 20 of those share the same information with their colleagues or friends, then this article will reach and inspire another 20*100 = 2000 people. This won't stop here, as these 2000 people are likely to share it with thousands more, so the article could ultimately touch millions of lives.
Humanitarian Service Projects: When you work on some humanitarian service project, such as giving money to charity monthly, opening an orphanage, installing water tanks in areas lacking drinking water, or visiting hospitals to help poor people, you are generating an unstoppable ripple effect. Hundreds of people will get inspired by you and start doing similar acts.
Examples of Negative Ripples
- Reckless Driving: When you show off your driving 'skills' and 'thrills' by driving recklessly or at high speeds while your friends or family members are with you, you are encouraging them to do the same when given a chance. These friends might do the same and encourage more people to this bad behavior. Over time, you might become the root cause of reckless driving for 100+ people or more!
A Note for Muslims
For Muslims, positive ripples can become a source of Sadqa Jaria (ongoing charity) which is extremely valuable after death. If you have done something similar to the positive acts mentioned above, these deeds will keep sending you Hasanat (good deeds) in your after-death bank account. Always remember that dollars, pounds, or euros won't help you on the Day of Judgment. The acts of kindness you performed and their usage by society will. By inspiring and convincing more people to do good deeds, you are ensuring your share in the Hasanat that they perform (while their share remains unaffected).
Conclusion
Positive acts of kindness can bring magical results on earth. Everyone needs to understand that all of their acts generate ripples in society, which either improve or pollute it. Do you audit yourself on how much pollution or prosperity you are contributing to society?
