Ripples v7.24: Ripples of LITTLE THINGS!

Ripples v7.24: Ripples of LITTLE THINGS!
Monday, June 13, 2005
a FREE weekly splash from Paul & The Ripples Project

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= PEBBLE =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o

Sometimes when we are generous in small,
barely detectable ways it can change someone else\'s life forever.
Margaret Cho, submitted by Linda H., Pewaukee WI

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= BOULDER =o=o=o=o=o=o=o

It really is the little things that mean the most of all...
The \"let me help you with that\" things that may seem very small,
The \"I\'ll be glad to do it\" things that make your cares much lighter,
The \"laugh with me, it\'s funny\" things that make your outlook brighter...

The \"never mind the trouble\" things, the \"yes, I understand,\"
The interest and encouragement In everything you\'ve planned...
It really is the little things, the friendly word or smile,
That add such happiness to life and make it more worth while.
-Mary Dawson Hughes, submitted by Pat S., Brooklyn WI

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= PONDER =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o

I love milking cows and remembering that there once was a hole, a hole in the ground (and the green grass grows all around all around!).

I spent Friday morning in Waukesha, Wisconsin helping 200 high school juniors (and some remarkable staff!) get fired up for a powerful weekend known as WILS (Wisconsin Leadership Seminar). These special leaders were nominated to represent their high schools at this event and every year it seems the leadership potential of the group swells.

In addition to cheers about milking cows and songs about holes in the ground, we talked about the possibilities of saving a life. I proposed that while it may be fascinating to daydream about a time when we could dramatically save someone\'s life in an emergency situation, it may be more useful to focus on the tiny opportunities we have in every day living: offering our patience to the grocery store bagger who is struggling through his first day on the job, acknowledging a person who passes us on the street with a smile, or an unplanned kindness for a colleague/neighbor/friend who needs a lift. Some of these may seem like small gestures, but it is possible that one of those brief encounters could be a lifesaving reminder to someone that life is worth living! The more of these ripples you create, the better you will get at making them AND you increase the likelihood that one of your ripples reaches someone just in time.

If you can think of a time when a simple \"hello\" or tiny favor helped you make it through a crazy day, then you owe it to the world to pay back the debt with some LITTLE THING this week!

And hey, after some technical problems with our online community, we have switched to a different type of website bulletin board. All of our former usernames/passwords and old postings are in tact, but it should be much easier to use....so c\'mon let\'s jump back into attempting to share with each other: http://theripplesproject.org/smf/index.php?topic=163.0

Peace,
Paul

p.s. If your last name begins with L, M, N, O or P, can you take a moment this week to tell me what you like about Ripples and anything we could do to make it better? THANKS!