When I first heard the saying “The Ripple Effect,” my first thought was rippling wine, which was one of my favorites as it was cheap. It left me with terrible hangovers, as there was a price to pay. I found out later that was not what they were talking about. It’s the ripples in the water. Once again, the thought of skipping a rock across a smooth pond came to mind. That was me, bouncing into different people’s lives, leaving them a mess like the pond’s surface. Once again, there was a different explanation that the old timers had in mind.

I was told that life around me is like a pond’s smooth surface. That is when I am dropped into the water with a big splash. The results of my actions can be felt from one end of the pond to the other as the rings of the splash move outward. Immediate circles have the most disruption; the further you go, the less disruption you get.

It was further explained that sometimes, the circles strike an object and bounce back toward me. The object may be the police, my ex-wife, an old debt, or charges I skipped out on. It doesn’t matter what changes the direction of the wave; it comes back to get me at some point. The idea is to be sober and work on my shortcomings so they won’t come back to bite me.

The same analogy can be used in my sober life; only then is the splash different. Today, the ripples I send out sober are ones of forgiveness and love. It’s the same action but entirely different outcomes as the obstacles have been lifted out of the pond, and my positive message radiates to others and on to even more people. You never know how many people you will affect when something is dropped into the pond. Make sure it’s from your heart and not the EGO. I must never forget that whatever I say can be passed on and on and on.