When I first started diving into the question of how we as individuals can make a difference, I saw pretty quickly what a mind-bogglingly huge potential we each have to have an impact.
In the Ripple Revolution model there are eight primary categories of ways we can make the world a better place. Seven of them are proactive. One of them just happens, and you have no control over it. I call it “serendipity.”
Let’s say you and I are in a coffee shop. I have a problem and you suggest a way to solve it. The person at the table next to us just happens to be having a similar problem, and your advice was spot on for them as well. That’s serendipity.
Or say you have a conflict with someone at work that you resolve in a healthy, productive way. One of your co-workers sees how you approach it, learns from that, and applies what she learned to her own efforts to resolve conflicts. You didn’t try to give her another tool for her conflict resolution toolkit. It just happened. Serendipity.
In this short video clip, one of my favorite thinkers out there, Tim Sanders, shares a powerful piece of serendipity he outlines in his book Today We Are Rich that he calls “contagious compassion.”
Sanders says, “When you give somebody love, even at work, the people who see it are changed. And their faith is restored, and they get hope.”
I love the idea of contagious compassion. In a nutshell, when others see you embodying love and compassion, it has an impact that goes well beyond the recipient.
It changes the outlook of the people who witness it. That might result in something small like a subtle shift in the kindness they see in the world that day, or something substantial, like inspiring them to constantly look for opportunities to show love themselves.
Someone once pointed out that a lot of the effect in the serendipity category comes as a result of how we choose to show up in the other seven categories. I think that’s true. So while you can’t decide to use Serendipity to change the world, you can stack the deck in Serendipity’s favor.
Showing up with love and compassion – living from your Heart Base – is a great way to stack the deck. The more your choices and actions are informed by love and compassion, the more potential there is for others to be touched by it.
It’s another way to “be the change.”
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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
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