by Dave Wine, President & CEO

I’m still a ‘boy’ at heart.  I still love throwing rocks into lakes, rivers, and ponds.  I love to try and make the biggest splash possible and then watching the ripples move outward.  The fun part now is that I can throw much bigger rocks than my grandkids can and so I get their “wows” and look really strong!  Right now they think that is cool!  (Soon, they will be stronger than me and will show me up!)

Just as the size and type of rocks I throw create different ripples, so what we throw into our pond of awareness (life) creates different outcomes in our lives.  That’s another way of saying we experience what we think.  So something that is meaningful to me is asking each day what stones I want to throw into my pond today.  Am I committed to throwing stones of unconditional love, peace, forgiveness, wholeness?   Or will I throw more jagged and damaging stones (thoughts)?  It is my choice.

If you watch ripples they continue in one direction until they reach something solid and then the ripples reverse and come back to where they first occurred.  That’s true in our lives as well. What we ‘throw’ - the ripples we create - come back to us.  If we choose thoughts of love, goodwill, and forgiveness; those same things will find their way back to us.  If we choose attack, anger, or judgment those will be our return ripples.  The universe is extremely fair - we get what we throw (or reap what we sow).

I love to throw rocks.  As I get older, I realize choosing the right rocks to throw creates the best effect in ponds and in my life!  And that creates wholeness in my life and in others' lives as well.