COMPLACENCY

I once told a man I no longer voted.

He responded by telling me this:

The choice of whether I voted or not was

why he waded through rice paddies,

toted guns, and found battles.

It wasn't long afterward that I began to vote again.

I once told a man a lie

He responded by telling me this:

All of the decisions that he made were based

upon the words that I spoke.

I have long since told the truth.

I once became upset over a gift I received

because it wasn't what I wanted.

The giver saw the disappointment in my eyes and told me this:

He chose the most valuable gift he could find,

because he felt I should have it.

I am since very joyful over each gift I receive.

A man once told me a secret

which I quietly whispered in another friend's ear.

The man told me this, after hearing his own secret repeated:

The reason he told me the secret, was

because he trusted me, not my friend.

I no longer take trust so lightly.

I wanted so much to merely be myself,

going unnoticed, and not draw attention.

And I was told this:

The fact that you do not conform makes you stand out all the more

I'm still thinking about that one.

I am the center of my universe but I do not live here alone.

Each move I make creates a ripple in someone else's ocean.

Each breath I take affects the air all around me.

Each word I utter falls on someone else's ears.

That which I touch, is felt by another.

That which I do will certainly affect another

That which I do not, will also affect another.

We never know how far reaching something we say,

or do really is until it returns to us

and it always does.

All things in life form a circle

Whether we see the circle or not.

Author Unknown