People don’t realize just how much power we have to influence other people’s lives.  Most often we sell ourselves short and dumb ourselves down not giving ourselves the credit we deserve.  Not only do we have the power to touch one life but that power can be passed from person to person creating a “ripple effect.”  I’m sure you’ve seen the ripple effect before.  You’ve seen it whenever you’ve thrown a stone into a pond and you’ve seen it whenever a fish jumps out of a river or a creek.    There is a trail of ripples that surround the object cascading out around it.

Humans also have the power to create a ripple effect.  The decision we have to make as individuals is whether we want to have a positive or a negative effect on others.  What sort of energy do we want to surround those around us with?

At the very beginning of my fitness journey when I first joined the gym I didn’t start off with the idea that it would come to me successfully losing over 60 pounds, gaining a great deal of muscle, starting my own blog and writing for Fytness Fanatik magazine.  I had no idea what it would come to.  I was suffering from a broken heart at the time and I just wanted some place to go in the winter where I could walk laps around the arena during the specified times that were offered and hopefully lose a few pounds.  It was the personal trainer that showed me around the facility who convinced me that I wanted to try out some of the machines.  When I told him I was just joining to walk he said, “Oh you’ll want to do some cardio and some weights.”  It was that little nudge of encouragement that got the ball rolling along with my own heartbreak that fueled the fire.  I have in turn inspired others on their own journeys and they have inspired others on their journeys.  This is an amazing power that we have to influence people’s lives.  How awesome is it that I have touched the lives of people I have not and unfortunately will not ever meet and so on and so forth.

The choice that we have to make is whether we want our ripple effect to be positive or negative.  Do we want to be the stone thrown into the pond that quickly sinks to the bottom blending in with all the other rocks in the shadows or do we want to be the strong, powerful fish jumping out of the lake into the beautiful light of day?  We have a great deal more to offer the world than we could ever imagine.

written by Missy Barnum