I would like to talk about our ripple and how far it can reach.
Your ripple.
Have you ever thought of how far it extends out?
From a simple smile to a kind word or action?
From the Bible to the teachings of Buddha,
The Rig Veda,
The Tanakhs,
And the Quran?
Some of these are thousands of years old and they are still rippling.
You might say,
These are enlightened beings sent by the divine.
Aren't we all sent by the divine?
What about the Crest Jewel of Discrimination,
Written by Adi Shankara at the age of 14,
Who lived between 686 and 718 AD,
Taking us deep into non-duality?
We are all one.
He is still rippling.
We can look at some modern day influencers that have left this physical plane.
Louise Hay,
The goddess of affirmations,
Teaching us to love ourselves and that we can heal ourselves.
She also stepped up during a time of confusion,
Chaos,
And hate,
When a new disease appeared known as AIDS.
She created a safe place for the gay community,
Loving them for who they were,
Starting with a small group in her home that quickly expanded in size and had to be held at a larger venue.
Teaching them through affirmations,
We are all worthy of love and compassion.
She is still rippling.
Dr.
Wayne Dyer,
What an incredible individual who learned to forgive later in life and that changed the trajectory of his life.
Writing a number of books and doing shows on PBS and making a movie,
One I watched at the beginning of my spiritual journey.
For every book read,
Program watched,
He is still rippling.
Have you ever been in a bad mood or stressed out and passed a stranger that smiled at you or said a kind word or gave you their seat on a train,
Bus,
Or a bench and that changed your mood for the rest of the day?
Or has a family member,
Friend,
Or stranger complimented you about your hair,
Your clothes,
Or how you look that made you smile on the inside?
These small things can change how we go about our day and can be a chain reaction on how we treat others and how they treat others.
If someone was at the end of the rope and thinking of ending their life and you gave them a smile or kind word or told somebody how much they mean to you,
You could give them that spark of light and hope to carry on.
I would like you to close your eyes or soften your gaze,
Whatever you are more comfortable with.
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in and gently let that out.
Take another long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
Breathing in to any tension in your body,
And release it on the exhale.
I would like you to sit with your thoughts for a moment on how someone has changed your outlook on a day by a smile,
Kind word,
Or action.
Now I would like to take you on a visualization.
Imagine you are on a dock floating in the middle of a pond or lake.
The water is crystal clear.
Imagine you are in a bubble of air.
There is nothing to fear here.
It is light as day in the water,
And you have all the oxygen you need in your bubble.
The water is so still,
It is like a mirror.
Now jump off the dock,
And as you float to the bottom,
Look all around you and see how still it is down here.
Look around you in 360 degrees.
What do you see down here?
It is so still.
I think a lot of us don't realize the effect of their ripple.
They see it as the stillness around us,
Like it is down here.
Whatever our actions are,
They only affect us.
Now gently push off the floor of the pond or lake so that your head pops out of the water.
Look around you.
Can you see the ripple floating across the top of the water that was once still?
This is from your action of jumping into the water.
It has been rippling since you entered the water.
Your actions and words flow across the universe the same way.
It is constant and never-ending and impacting generations to come.
You are always rippling.
Start to bring your attention back to your breath and to the present moment.
Remember to be kind,
Not only to others,
But to yourself.
Namaste.
