I am finding this unaccounted-for, unscheduled time to write this afternoon.  Why?  Well, you see my 12:30 appointment today needed to be abruptly canceled because she lost her job.  She’s devastated and here we are…life changes, and immediately we have to adjust.  

I’m sitting here thinking about the ripple effect.  Something happened in her company to cause her to lose her job, she then needs to reevaluate her entire life (did I mention she moved to another country for her job?)  Her entire world is forever changed.  This affects her clients, family, living environment, friends, and in my world, her health and well-being. 

Adding on, last week, one of my dear friend’s husbands also lost his job after 30 decades of working with the same Company.  They, too, are needing to pivot, adjust, mold, and refigure plans.

The ripple effect now begins.  These hardship moments happen out of nowhere.  Most likely, we are ill-prepared for what we know could happen… but hope never does.   

I personally feel it is good not to worry about all the “what ifs” too much.  We can create entire doomsday scenarios out of them and live our lives in the past and future never really enjoying the true blessing of the day.  I see this all the time and it can wreak havoc.  I can even get caught into this occasionally.

We can worry, stress, fight and be angry.  Rarely do we find joy, peace, compassion, or kindness out in these types of issues. What I believe helps enormously, is to be centered, balanced, focused, and healthy-minded (a very mindful diligent daily practice) so when these life-changing events do happen, we can shake it off fairly quickly and get grounded again. Peaceful again.  Strong again. 

Coming from a place that is centered and confident no matter what winds of change try to blow us over will help us move through these tumultuous times with a steady vigilance.

It’s in times of chaos we can find out who we are, what strengths we have, what compassions we can muster up, and how to create a blessing out of something which devastates us initially.  

It will take time.  The actions  (positively or negatively ) we take when hardships arise will not only effect our present, they will mold and shape our future.  They will vibrate outward and v, positively and negatively, and then it is their job to decide how to receive it and how to move on in their way~ and so it goes on. 

So, my end thought as I await my next call is how will this client’s bad news effect her future as well as my future?  How can I be compassionate to her and support her in this hardship and how can I always be prepared for untimely changes while still living in my present circumstance?  How can I be effective in my own version of the pebble in the pond? (ripple effect)  
Interesting…as I meditated this morning, my word of the day was (and is) compassion.

That is the ripple effect for me: show compassion, be compassionate.