Powerful Baseball and Bathrooms??

A few years ago, my family and I attended a baseball game. A few rows in front of us, sat a beautiful mother - in all senses of the word. Her grace overwhelmed me at times as she cared for her seriously disabled child. As she appeared to enjoy the game and her time at the park, her gaze never stayed on the field for more than a few seconds. She lovingly checked on the adorable child beside her, suctioning his lungs every 5 or so minutes and attending to his many needs. She appeared at ease and light-hearted, smiling often at both of her young children and her husband.

I caught my own children watching this mother on several occasions and at one point, my daughter looked at me with her big, compassionate eyes and said, "Mom, that's what you mean when you say to me, 'How blessed are you that you get to clean and vacuum your bedroom,' isn't it?" I nodded yes and asked her, "How might that little boy feel about jumping out of his wheel chair, no tubes attached to his body, with healthy legs and arms to clean his room?" No answer was necessary as we continued to be graced by the presence of this beautiful family.

Later in the evening, my daughter and I were impacted by another strong woman. We entered a public bathroom in a hotel lobby and was greeted warmly by the attendant responsible for keeping it clean. She diligently wiped down the faucets, walls and counters as she sang and hummed happily. As we walked out of the bathroom, we couldn't help smiling at each other; more evidence from the day that happiness is not a result of external circumstances but a conscious choice.

For the rest of the night and up until this very moment, I think of these women and the lessons they shared with my family and I and it brings to mind the incalculable effect we all have on each other. There's a universal law I learned about from a favorite author, Andy Andrews in his book, The Butterfly Effect.  The Law of Sensitive Dependence Upon Initial Conditions confirms that when a butterfly flaps it's wings, it moves air molecules which in turn moves other molecules of air, which affects other molecules of air and others, and so on, having the ability to affect molecules of air on the other side of the earth.

The law insists, like a butterfly, we all affect each other, just by being ourselves, in ways we can't imagine and will never even realize. My family and I were both greatly and gratefully impacted and our thoughts and decisions will be different in various ways as a product of these "chance" encounters on this particular day. How our resulting choices might positively affect others, maybe even you, we'll never know. But the point is more usefully applied to the realization that each of us is like a butterfly and we never know who might be watching and influenced by the flapping of our wings.

You really are that powerful.