The Butterfly Effect

Little actions that are done here impact places and people far away. Equally, little things that are done elsewhere affect us later on. This is often called the Butterfly Effect. It’s normally related to storm systems, as in, a butterfly flits a wing, a swirl of air is queued, and with the best conditions possible, a storm brews and wings away across the ocean.

Bing! That’s how storms are formed!

Really? Perhaps. Understand this. Life is impacted by sequences of events done elsewhere. From politics to fads, from shopping habits to products, from laws to financial market adjustments, everything done elsewhere affects me in my little corner of the world.

Think about it like this. Most Christmas shopping aisles are full of things decided 18 months ago! Change any part of the supply chain, economy, popularity, or even cultural events, then what we are willing to spend our money on may just disappear. Poof! Something else takes its place.

Struggle with this and you may find yourself hampered by what happens elsewhere. Because we are affected by others. All the time. Accept it, and you may be in a better place as you replace your world with sustainable thoughts.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. Something we did a long time ago affects us later in life. Wrong choices, or improperly proceeding a direction, then we face challenges later on without the youthful resources to handle it.

Research

If I am anything, I am a researcher. Through the years I’ve learned to “dig it out”. Though I may not have a better understanding of something, at least I gave it a fighting shot at my knowledge being enhanced. In fact, I enjoy knowing a little about a lot! Then, when something grabs my attention I will at least have a direction to start the research process.

Regarding the Butterfly Effect, some research was gobbledygook. Wait… Is gobbledygook a word? Well, a little research tells me this:

Texas Congressman Maury Maverick coined the word in 1944 to describe the frustrating jargon used by policymakers in Washington. It reminded him of the sound of turkeys gobbling.

Trust a Texan to create a word! I do it all the time and no one tells the world what I’ve done. Here’s my horn a-tooting!

So. I found an interesting Youtube video about the Butterfly Effect. It’s 10 minutes long and unless you have a mind not geared to understanding the scope of a theory, then you may not enjoy it.

Here’s My Thought

Whether we are affected negatively by something or someone, near or far, we can adapt to our new surroundings as long as we are willing to change our expectations. We may point and place blame, but it will not change the came we are called to play.

If I am my own fault from sometime in the past, then I can still adapt, but perhaps with a sting. Recriminations. I could have done better. If only…

How do you handle this Butterfly Effect from others? Change my focus, and adapt to reality. If it’s myself I’m dealing with, then I think there are better steps to creating lessons learned so I help someone else down the road.

Here’s How I Handle Failure

These are lessons I’ve learned from my own Butterfly Effects that I hope will help you identify the tools in your toolbox that help you.

Steps

1. Accept it. Life has a way of suddenly showing us reality. When we think it’s going one way, and then flips the wrong way, then accepting that it has happened is the best way to understanding the new reality.
2. Not a failure. Michael Jordan says it like this, “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Someone who accepts their world as a failure, and does not adapt, is truly a failure.
3. Learn. I’m a proponent of always learning. From something I didn’t know, or from what went wrong. On a Y2K project, we had “after-action” meetings to discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what can we learn from this event.
4. Do Not Hide It. Others will learn from how we handle our own slippage. And if there’s anything to learn from others then knowing someone else has made the same mistake helps us come out of the problem.
5. Find Inspiration. It’s easy to find blame, but finding something to inspire us to get out of the quagmire and step up to a better path, well, you find inspiration everywhere! That Butterfly did not start out as it ends up in life!
6. Get a Support System. Weight Watchers, Alchohol Anonymous, and a host of other systems exist to help those struggling with their problems.
7. Identify a Plan. It’s hard to move into a certain direction if you don’t know where you are going, and how to get there.
8. Move. No. Not a relocation, rather, it’s getting yourself up from your fallen state and moving forward down your action plan.
9. Help Others. One of the best problem fixers in my own life comes when I reach out to help someone else.
10. Find a Win to Celebrate. No Brainer!

Different Direction

Now. Before we pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, think this through from a slightly different perspective.

What we say, or do, affects others in their lives just like that Butterfly Effect affected us. A word misspoken, an action done out of turn, or a frown when a smile is anticipated… I cannot be everything to everyone the way they want it, but I can sure learn how to apply myself to the situation so I am not the Butterfly that affects someone else negatively.

Thimk and Do (Click to Read my thought on Thimk!)