One of my favorite things to do when I was a child was to line up dozens of dominoes in an interesting configuration, tip one of them over and watch all the others elegantly follow suit.
Sometimes I think that people are a bit like dominoes.
When one of us is “nudged” to do something good, many others elegantly follow suit.
I was sitting at a stoplight the other day when I saw a man holding up a cardboard sign that said: “Homeless please help.” I sat there for about a minute contemplating what I wanted to do. Eventually, I reached into my wallet, pulled out a dollar bill and rolled down my window. The man walked over to me, said “thank you” and returned to his position in the median. Shortly after that, I saw the person in the car behind me roll down his window and hand the man some money. Then, shortly after that, I saw the car behind that person, roll down the window and hand the man some money. Then the light turned green.
It was a beautiful recognition of just how powerful the domino effect can be. And I got the impression that each of us used the courage of another as inspiration for our own actions.
This reminded me of an article I read recently on the six types of people in the world. Many of us fall into the bucket of people who see the “world on fire” and still choose not to act. There are many reasons for this — we grow apathetic; we are fearful; we are lazy.
I like to think about how easy it could be to put out the fire if each of us did just a few small things. Not only does this make the world a better place to live, it also inspires others to do the same.
If each one of us is waiting for someone else to start then it can seem pretty unlikely for good things to happen in this world.
Sometimes it takes just one person to start a wave of positive change. It’s easy for us all to stand idly by when no one else is doing anything either. But once one person demonstrates what love and compassion look like, others are more inclined to follow suit.
What an encouraging reminder that there are plenty of good things and people in this world — sometimes they just need an example to be set or to be given the courage or permission to do what is right.
Are you ready to set the example?
Amanda Johnson has one mission: to show people how to improve their experience of life.
Amanda realized that when she resisted, judged or attached to “what is” she suffered. So, she made a choice to transform her experience of life and wants to help others do the same.
Amanda is a seasoned professional with more than 10 years’ experience performing, educating, facilitating and consulting for Fortune 500 companies with the personal mission to reach and change lives for the better — be it a 2nd-grader or a CEO. Her ability to connect with and inspire those she meets makes any message she conveys resonate deeply with any audience.
Visit her Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/presencematters] and Presence Matters blog [http://presencematters.wordpress.com] for more information.
Reblogged this on Listonberries and commented:
Everyone should engage in Random Acts of Kindness! 🙂
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Love this. Akin to the saying be the change you want to see in the world. Thanks for sharing. BTG
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Absolutely!
Hoping you are well and life is being kind to you.
Cheers, Mike.
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
The domino effect …. applies to many situations!! Nudge … and the other will follow!!
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Reblogged this on MrMilitantNegro™.
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Yes, random acts of kindness. I am trying to focus on that:-)
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That’s great! Thanks for sharing.
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