We Are All Connected.
Like it or not, from the person you love to your enemy, we all affect each other’s life. We all try to shield ourselves from this reality. But actually, the person next to you, directly effects on you. By the way they act and talk. How you perceive what that person beside you is saying and doing, even if the actions of your neighbour aren’t in any way directed towards you or remotely related to you, affects your life and the world around you.
Look back at when you were watching your favourite sports team on TV. That match, they weren’t playing to their highest potential. Instead of turning away and doing something else, you’re transfixed to the screen, watching the poor performance, in your opinion, of your favourite team. How did you feel at that time? How did you feel the following minutes? What did you converse about around the water cooler at work the next day regarding the previous night’s game?
Different emotions started to overwhelm you resulting from the defeat of the team. Anger towards their inability to perform up to your standards. Shame of cheering for a losing team. Disgust by the laziness of the players. Anxiety before facing your friends the next day. Then you get into the blaming game and find excuses for their loss, for your loss. You start to justify the outcome of a game that you have no control over. Thinking that your analysis has any bearing on what happened last night or even in future matches of the team.
This example depicts exactly the profound effect complete stranger can have on one another. You don’t even know these players. The only knowledge you have is what’s reported in the media. If strangers generate this effect, when people close to you are involved, the effect is compounded.
Stay mindful of your surroundings and the actions taken. They will positively or negatively change the world around you. Each and every step taken, every word spoken, changes the lives of everyone, near or far. Unfortunately, we all go about our days without paying attention to this. We bring smiles to some and sadness to others without even noticing.
An invisible connection is created the day we’re born, to our environment. The bond to your mother, to your first love, to your best friend, the people you meet through your life. The unbreakable connection to your child and to your spouse. The interaction with your coworkers is also a bond. We’re all interlinked, and this connection is what affects us. Notice at your next business meeting when someone says something or acts in a manner you don’t appreciate or just mentions something not even remotely aimed at you. It will change the way you feel.
Many people will disapprove of this connection. They will start to explain and find excuses why this doesn’t involve them. If you hear someone tell you that what others do, don’t affect them, ask them this. Why did you get frustrated and mad when you were cut off on the highway? You didn’t know that person that cut you off.
We are one on this tiny planet. Notice of what you do each day in all aspects of your life. Stop and take the time to contemplate the small things. That is where changes occur. This is a state of mind and a behaviour that will become natural and automatic when repeated daily. Nurture the connections you have and create. They will reveal to you, wonderful things.