The Ripple

A single event has the ability to change the course of your journey.  When you are in the moment you can't always see the changes, however experiencing these slight modifications to our journey IS life.

I am always reminded of the movie "Sliding Doors" when I think of how an event can alter a person's path, and the rippling aftermath that leads us to an end.

In the movie, Gwyneth Paltrow's life seems to be determined by whether or not she misses the subway on a particular day.   Some people call that event destiny or fate, but usually only in the same sentence as a positive event.  Something that leads to a better option, a better path.  What is it then, when the event ripples to something negative?  Misfortune? Unlucky? Or is it an accident? 

We see her life unfold in two very different ways, but her ending is the same.  In scenario one, she misses the subway and has to return home only to find her fiance in bed with another woman completely shattering her life.  Whereas in scenario 2 she slips through the subway doors just as they close and relieved, goes off to work while we as the audience know that she is being two-timed (since we already witnessed life path #1). So which option is better?  One event causes pain instantly, and allows for sooner healing.  The second postpones the pain and yet still the healing will and does occur.  In each of her "lives" she meets a MR. X yet at different times, and under very different circumstances.  With all the events that she experiences as the result of missing or making the subway, in both lives she and Mr. X find each other and end up together.

 Everything in this life happens for a reason, a purpose….call it fate call it destiny or even misfortune.  I don't believe that our lives are entirely predetermined or being puppeteered, however I strongly believe that they are guided.  I think we are challenged with obstacles and  granted the ability to choose our direction based on those roadblocks, that ultimately lead us toward an end we are meant to have.  If we did not have this ability to choose, why would we dream?

With all of this said, picture the ripples  that surround where a single pebble was dropped into calm water. 

Now pretend you are the pebble, under water.  You are submerged in that single event and don't have the ability to view the bigger picture that is created when the event triggers your new life path; the ripples.

 Its easy to fall and get stuck in a single event, but when we find the courage to recognize the beauty in the aftermath of a life changing event (good or bad), we can truly begin to understand the paths that have been laid before us, and eventually journey toward our end.

"A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step."