Lately I’ve been thinking about the ripple effect. How the choices of our actions go out into the world and impacts it by how we think, feel, say or do, whether we are conscious of it or not.
Sometimes you hardly notice the ripple, and other times your ripple collides with another person’s ripple, changing the lives of the people involved.
Today marks two years since I followed my intuition, and nudges from the Universe, to save a young man from drowning in a private lake.
Click here to read the full lake story.
The choice of Antonio*, the young man, to run full speed into the lake without ever checking things out first and instantly begin to drown, collided with me being there at the right time, having had a prior experience with helping someone drowning even though it happened a long time ago when I was eight, and me choosing to go out and help him.
The ripple effects of those choices two years ago put me on a journey I never would have anticipated on that beautiful May afternoon.
Antonio was saved, that was true. But, I was too, by learning priceless life lessons from that experience.
Here are some of the lessons I learned:
– In life, you give and you receive. I learned that in exchange for helping Antonio I had received the opportunity to not only heal from this trauma, but to also heal from the trauma of the other drowning event that I didn’t even know that I had carried my whole life.
– I learned that walking out of the lake that day I knew I had changed and couldn’t go back to the way I was yet had no idea of where I was going or the path before me. My trust in life was deeply tested. Many unresolved issues rose to the surface for my attention. There were unexpected dark days of despair filled with grief, anger and resentment that needed to be unburied in order to let them go. A business partnership dissolving and a home burglary added extra fuel to the fire for me to work through.
– I learned that the parts of me that I had previously disowned, such as my intuition, were actually my greatest gifts. In the past I used to hide how intuitive I really was because I was often made fun of for my sensitivities. The lake busted me forever about this. Who follows random signs to save someone? Apparently, I do. I made a promise to myself that I would own and embrace all of me, including my intuitive gifts and talents, and help others claim theirs.
– I learned that sometimes you pick up the brush to heal, and sometimes you put it down. My fine art and Fun Foodie Friends have been spotty at best, although I know I am now returning to them in however it ends up looking.
– I learned that the best thing I did for myself as a result of the lake was to recognize I was in a spiritual crisis/awakening and needed support. I decided to come out of the hand analysis closet and take Baeth Davis’ life-changing Level II Scientific Hand Analysis intensive program. Yes, I learned so much about Hand Analysis and Human Design, but I learned even more about myself. I developed a deeper appreciation for my unique soul design, and a deeper desire to help others discover their own unique soul design. Today I’ve combined my graphic design/branding business with Scientific Hand Analysis into True You Brand Alchemy to create a greater impact while being more soul-satisfying, and fun for both me and my clients. It’s inner and outer branding to help line up who you are on a soul level with what you have to offer and the story behind it all.
– Lastly, I spoke about the trauma of the near-death experience, but in the process of focusing on that I learned I forgot the most important thing. I lived. And, Antonio lived. Having gone through some dark times I appreciate the return of the light that much more. I don’t believe you need the dark to appreciate the light but if it does come know that the light is always there no matter how hidden it may seem, and one day it will return.
Life is messy. We feel the effects of ripples all the time. Look around the world and you will see plenty of different wave sizes rippling all around you. Sometimes a ripple you never anticipated transforms you in ways you never imagined if you are open to trust and believe in the transformation process no matter how messy it looks on the outside.
What’s your ripple effect?
This is the first blog post in a series of life lessons from the lake.
* His name has been changed.
Copyright: paylessimages / 123RF Stock Photo
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