Impromptu speaking.

I never realized how much we speak 'impromptu' on a daily basis. And yet, it's true. Common and frequent situations include any time a friend puts you on the spot, running into an old peer after not seeing each other in months and finding common ground to communicate, ordering food at a restaurant when the waiter asks you about a preference, etc. The list goes on and on and on...

But this past week I had an assigned impromptu speech. So this impromptu was rather a planned impromptu. I got nervous before the day came and I began to think of topics I could talk about. Immigration...the Virginia Tech tragedy...racism...passion.. all these thoughts came together and I began to make main points for each of these possible topics that would be on the never-seen-before list on Speech day.

I especially wanted to talk about one topic I knew well, and that was the consequences of our actions. I sincerely believe that our actions, believe it or not, have a ripple effect. That ripple spreads in a manner of consequences which we will never find the end to.

"The situation we always live in is like that of the wise Chinese farmer whose horse ran off. When his horse returned the next day with a herd of horses following her, the foolish neighbor came to congratulate him on his good fortune. Then, when the farmer's son broke his leg trying to ride one of the new horses, the foolish neighbor came to console him again. When the army passed through, conscripting men for war, they passed over the farmer's son because of his broken leg. When do we expect the story to end???" - Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steven Hagen


Ultimately, our actions affect others in ways that never end, so taking a step back to look at the big picture, we are ALL interconnected in some shape or form. So it is in our best interest to respect others and treat everyone to the best of our ability.

So next time you are at a fork in the road and considering which pathway to take in actions, it's good to consider the immediate consequence, but just remember: each action creates a huge ripple effect that has no end..