You know the voice

I was about to write something entirely different this morning and then I got a phone call. It was my husband. He was calling from the car and he had that voice, you likely know the one. The voice that signals to you something serious has just happened. The voice that is a shadow of its usual self. The voice awash with so many emotions and thoughts. Something serious had just happened, a man had just died of a heart attack at work.

With a heavy heart

I am now sitting in front of my computer screen, speechless with a very heavy heart as I think about this man who woke up this morning, went to work and is not going home. He may have had an amazing weekend celebrating Canada Day with family and friends. He may have got up this morning feeling refreshed and ready for the week or maybe he got up and grumbled a bit as he prepared for his day. However he was, he had no idea what was in store for him.

Lives were changed

My heart feels for all those people that knew him and loved him, those people he touched every day, those people whose lives were changed because he was here. He likely has no idea the impact that he has had on the world. However, his very presence made some kind of difference.

Create your ripples

We have no idea the ripples that we make in the world. Every day we have such an opportunity to make a difference and it can be so simple. We can:

• look into someone eyes and smile as we walk by them
• make someone a cup of tea or coffee at work and take it to them for no other reason than we know they like it
• be present and deeply listen to someone as they are grieving
• tell someone we love, what we love about them
• tell someone we don’t like, what we admire in them
• support someone to achieve what they most dream to achieve
• cheer someone on to succeed
• acknowledge the little things someone does
• shed a tear with someone who needs our company
• reach out to someone in need
• let someone, anyone, a complete stranger know how amazing they are because of their smile, their laughter, their persistence, their love, their presence, their attention to detail (for whatever you see in them)

What an incredible ripple we create when we take little steps to let people know just how amazing they are and what a difference they are making to us.

The invitation

So I invite you today to intentionally send out your ripple into the world by taking small actions to acknowledge the awesome in someone.

No matter who you are in contact with today, remember: They are amazing, they are capable, they are unique and they are so worth celebrating. Let them know it.