Making a Splash
“If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Nothing like a philosophical "poke" to start off the new year! I perceive one undeniable truth in this famous riddle: regardless of whether anyone is around or not, the tree makes an impact.
Making an impact seems to be a sticky wicket for many of us. Consider your own experience. As you walk down the street and meet eyes with a smiling woman, do you find that your mouth starts to curve upward? Do you wonder what's wrong with her that she's smiling at you? Maybe you start to give yourself the once over, because you obviously must have something out of place? Perhaps you find yourself looking away as quickly as possible to avoid the contact? This list could go on for eons, but here's the funny part of this story...what you may not have realized is that the woman is paying a smile forward. Moments before, someone smiled at her, and her lips curved in return - you just happened to receive the impact of her response. Like the vibrations of the tree in the forest, one of them touched you.
If you're curious about how you relate to your own ability to make an impact, imagine you're sitting by a well populated pool on a hot day and you're desperate to flop into the deep end, are you:
(A) the person who jumps in with no regard for the folks around you who may get wet,
(B) the person who walks from one lounge chair to the next asking, "do you mind if I jump in the pool, because I don't want to disturb you, you look really comfortable" or
(C) the person who won't even consider jumping in because you'd rather be hot than face the consequences.
Regardless of which (if any) category you land in, we seem to make a lot of assumptions about the vibrations we create, including the dismissal of the fact that we make an impact at all. If you could relate to any of the three categories in the pool analogy, you may have a story running about your natural impact.
Does this all seem a little silly? Of course it is - and not just because we're talking about jumping in a pool! It's absurd to believe that we get to have power over someone else's response to us. Every action we take, every thought we think, every energetic shift has an impact, and while we may remain mindful of the fact that we each have a responsibility for what we contribute to our collective swimming pool, no one has the power to alter, control, or contain how someone else feels about what we offer.
The best any of us can do is allow our most essential, clear selves to show up at the metaphorical pool. This includes being willing to honor that whether you jump or not, you have an impact. Remember, the person sitting on the other side of the pool might be in category (D) waiting for someone else to take the plunge first - imagine what fun you could have together!
Wondering what making an impact can look like? Take a peek at this entertaining video.
Inviting you to make a splash,
Joanne Lutz