Be a Ripple

One of my all-time favorite movies is It's a Wonderful Life.  Every Christmas, I sit down and watch it. Every time, I cry.  You're probably familiar with it, but here's the basic synopsis.  A man name George Bailey falls on hard times and wishes that he never existed and wants to end his own life.  He comes across a guardian angel who shows him what life would be like, were he not born.  George is given the gift to see the impact that he made on so many others.  He truly finds that he's had a wonderful life after all.

Today, I found myself posting on social media about my fitness journey.  Though I don't do it to be noticed (I actually do it to help keep me accountable-much like this blog), I received various likes and comments of encouragement.

So, that got me thinking about the ripple effect.    You know what it is.  Literally, if you throw a rock into water, it creates ripples.  Socially, it's how one person can impact so many others.  So, here's my question to you.  What is your ripple effect?  When people look at your life [my life], what do they see?  Oftentimes, it's not the picture perfect image that you've created for yourself.

But, people are looking and are being affected by your ripple.  So, don't give up.  Keep growing stronger.  Ignore the criticism, or better yet, learn from it.  

I've had positive comments told to me about my life and how it encourages others.  But, I don't want my ripple to be about me.  Not at all.  Which is often hard to defer because I consider myself very intelligent and confident.  I desire to be humble.  I desire for when people see me, that they don't really see me at all.  I want to be like Philippians 3:8:

I consider everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

I don't want people to see me, only that they see Jesus through me.  That would be my desire for my ripple effect.

Does it always happen?  Of course not.  But, I can't stop trying.  Neither can you.  So, what are you waiting for?  What's tugging at your heart?  Go ahead!  Step out on faith.  Be a ripple.  You never know who is watching.  You might come to know your impact.  You, too, just might find out that you have a wonderful life after all.