Ripples

I'm on my way to Austin, TX...just stopped off at a Starbucks about a half an hour north of my destination, and I'm sitting in the parking lot looking out on I-35, and a thought hit me about coincidences and our connectedness.

Not just connections between people and places, but connections between our past, present and future. I grew up near Kansas City, and I-35 goes right through the heart of downtown KC. Now, here I sit on I-35 years displaced from my childhood. But I know, if I turn and head north for 600 miles, I'll be right in the midst of the skyline that I remember vividly from my formative years.

There's more...

Last week, I was in Boulder, CO, and I was on US Highway 36. My small, rural hometown of Chillicothe, MO sits right on the nexus of US 36 and US 65. So I know if I hopped on 36 and headed 14 hours east, I would return to my childhood home. Maybe not step back in time, but the connection is there.

Wait...there's more...

About a year ago, I was in Miami on I-95, headed South towards the airport, stuck in atrocious traffic. And it made me pause and remember the hours or my life spent stuck in traffic on I-95 commuting into (and out of) Washington, DC.
It seems like so many aspects of our lives are connected in circular periodic motions.

And not only that, but in this day and age, we are connected through technology. Have you ever paused to consider how many people you are connected to on FaceBook? I have just over 500 FaceBook "Friends", and on average, those people have about 200 friends. Now, since I'm a math guy at heart, I have to consider that about 40 of those are "Mutual Friends" and therefore overlap with mine. But that's still 160 friends of friends. Do the math...that's 80,000 people that I'm directly or indirectly connected to.

That's insane.

What's the point? Consider everything you do. Consider not only the ramifications to your future in this crazy journey, but also consider how your actions might affect those people who are connected to you...it's sobering.
Just like ripples on a pond when you drop a pebble in...those waves can travel feet, yards, and miles. But the ripples caused by our lives can traverse time and space, affecting people and things in ways we cannot even imagine.