The ripple effect

I received an email tonight that questioned: could a butterfly flapping its wings, create a hurricane on the other side of the world? I think we’ve all heard a version of this question. If we kill a bee it has a disastrous effect on the earth 4 years later. If we kill all the bee’s the earth could be barren in a few short years. There are many that Ive heard, but it got me wondering, about what I call the Ripple Effect, and how it effect’s us in our everyday lives.

You see many years ago, I was excitedly planning on going to Thailand to do a job with a young talented lady. The evening before we were bound for Thailand the young lady’s mother told her she couldn’t go. I was left distraught and jobless. I met with another friend in Johannesburg who gave me a few numbers to call in Europe. I called that same day and within a week I was working and living in Barcelona, Spain. That was over 20 years ago. Today I call Barcelona my home; I have my loves in Barcelona and my family, my dogs - my home in all senses of the word.

How different would my life be today if the young lady’s mother had left her to go to Thailand?

This evening I sat with my friends in Cape Town and I was reminded of another friend (sitting with us at dinner) who, going through a questionable journey in her life herself, was wondering what to do next. On a Friday evening sitting in a local pub having a few drinks the question was asked if anyone knew of someone who could work for a friend. My friend said “I can do that”, landed the job and has just finished doing the CNN TIME WARNER FORTUNE 500 Congress, with speakers like Bill Clinton and more!

How different would her life have been these past three months if she were not in that particular pub, on that particular night?

Are our lives actually just made up of coincidences as we move along this journey we call life or are we, at times, in a different ‘zone’ that allows us to pick up on certain unforeseen events that do actually mould our lives further?

As I excitedly prepare to go home again tomorrow I sit here wondering what life lays ahead for me on this journey that I am faced with. Not the journey to Barcelona, but the next stepping stone that seems to be a metaphysical stone, placed before me by the universe, to cross another road, another river, another field of dreams. I find that life has suddenly become exciting again as I consider this concept and the ripple effect it could have on my life.

I sit here tonight being so grateful for my life. I sit here being grateful for all the wondrous turns, changes in direction and bumps that have made this journey so far, so interesting. I am grateful for the people that I have in my life, the people that I’ve lost in my life and the people who just crossed through my life.

MOST of all I sit here being grateful for the young lady’s mother who would not let her go to Thailand. Be thankful everyone – there really is a lot to be thankful for.