Image: Istockphoto.com
Have you been knocked over lately?
“On 12 August 2010, Ordos City, located in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, became the venue of a new Guinness World Records™ achievement for the longest human domino line. The record was achieved by 10,267 participants who formed a human domino line…” according to www.guinessworldrecords.com. Longest human domino line – China, Guinness World Records Blog post.
This noble endeavor required 10,267 people to knock each other down one after another. This amazing, if not a little bit odd, feat was started by the action of one single person. Someone chose to be the first human domino, or shall we say, the first to fall.
Our Mongolian brothers and sisters provided us with a living example of the so-called “Domino Effect.” Intrigued, I searched Wikipedia and found the following definition: “The domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence. The term is best known as a mechanical effect, and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events where the time between successive events is relatively small. It can be used literally (an observed series of actual collisions) or metaphorically (complex systems such as global finance, or in politics, where linkage is only a hypothesis).”
Living Domino Effects
The catalyst for my sudden domino fixation was a series of seemingly unrelated personal experiences that appear to be causing various domino effects from me to other people. Some of them were somewhat intentional, while others were completely unintended. Like a virus, these contacts spread from me to someone else, who bumped them into someone else, and it made me think about the consequences of me just being me.
You’ve probably heard, or had forwarded to you, “The Star Thrower,” the tale of a beach encounter between two men written by author and poet Loren Eiseley. A man observes another man engaging in the absurd effort of throwing starfish, which had washed up onto the beach, back into the ocean. When asked why he was doing such a futile task, given that there were no doubt millions of stranded starfish on the beach and that his actions could not possibly make a difference, the man replied with a starfish toss, “It made a difference to that one.”
The Butterfly Effect
In the early 1960s, MIT meteorologist Edward Lorenz dramatically changed scientific thought by proposing what he called “The Butterfly Effect” to explain the unpredictable nature of weather. Lorenz theorized that when a butterfly flutters its wings in Beijing in March, the Atlantic hurricane patterns in August can be completely altered.
If one little flap of a butterfly’s wings can have a big impact on our world as a whole, imagine the impact one of our small actions can have on our immediate surroundings. We may unintentionally alter the course of history by choosing to act one time. We can make a difference!
The butterfly has no way of knowing the ultimate impact of its action and neither can we foresee the ripples our actions create. What if even the micro-vibrations of our thoughts start a domino effect? Think how many times Mr. Eiseley’s “Star Thrower” story has been passed from person to person. Consider the spiritual tsunami created by the teachings of a Jewish tradesman who ended up being publicly executed by the government of his time. There was no high-speed internet to spread the news, just campfire whispers, breathed over and over again across the ages, quite possibly changing the lives eternally of many who were knocked over by this biblical domino. How would our world be different if Jesus’ disciples had returned to their old fishing and tax-collecting jobs and never told their story again?
Your Effect
The chain of our existence is a fragile one made up of small choices and little actions.
My former pastor tended to end each Sunday’s message with, “The way you live your faith matters!” He’s right. How we think and live is how we flutter our invisible butterfly wings, bump into other kindred spirits, and domino on and on for better or for worse.
A young woman I work with bumped into me in a hallway and stopped me to say that my book “Life Matches: Fire Up Your Life!” had profoundly influenced her life in a positive way. I could actually see her inner flame burning brightly during this humbling exchange as she detailed her unexpected transformational experience to a more fired up life. Our brief encounter was made all the richer for me when she told me that she had only read the introduction and the first chapter of my book, but couldn’t wait to finish the rest. As a human domino, I was knocked over.
As I wrote the book, I certainly did not have my co-worker in mind. I had just been given a story to tell and the time to tell it. No biggie. When I think of the strangers I will most likely never meet who may be changed even a little as a result of my laptop hours typing at my kitchen desk, I am awed by the enormity of the possibilities. I may not have written a best-seller. Yet, it doesn’t matter at all to me. Because like our star throwing friend on the beach, I made a difference to at least one person and the feeling of satisfaction I savored as a result was worth the effort! Mission accomplished. Well done.
We sometimes believe that our common efforts in common hours are inconsequential. I now have living proof that this is a lie that our fears tell us to keep us from trying to be, as Gandhi is often quoted, “the change we want to see in our world.”
What if you are parenting the next world leader who figures out a way to end poverty, sickness and hunger? What if you are a teacher who sharpens a thousand intellects over the course of her career? What if you are the bedridden senior, who raises prayers to a loving God by the hour, as your last act of service?
Our world is full of butterflies and dominoes. I hope you are blessed to receive the satisfaction of one of life’s best gifts–a chance to appreciate, even for a moment, the difference you have made in this world because you were here and you were you.
You make a difference just by being the you that only you can be. Choose to be the best you that only you can be and that will be enough to make all the difference in the world!
I would love to hear about your butterfly/domino moments, where you are certain you made a difference. If you want to share, leave a comment.
Flap your wings and make some waves! It’s been nice bumping into you.
Ready to fire up your work and your life? I’m an executive coach from Indianapolis, and I work one-on-one with executives and managers, in person for local clients or via Zoom. If this post raised a question about your work or your next step, we should talk. The first discovery call is free and confidential. Book your discovery call, or call or text me at 317-643-0058, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.
