The Impact Of Your Actions

Someone did something to my father that will cost him a lot of money. This is money that he doesn't have. It is money he will have to lower
himself further to raise.

Now, this man who did it...he had no idea what he was doing. He never dreamed that he was causing pain and anguish to my father, who already has more bills than he can pay for. He had no idea that my family is in dire financial straights. He never dreamed that my father would lose so much sleep over "just" a few thousand dollars. He simply didn't know.

If he had known what kind of ripple effect his actions would have, I like to think that he would not have done what he did. But he didn't know. And that got me thinking. Do we ever know the far reaching effects of our actions?

Maybe that girl who I criticized has a low self esteem problem. Maybe my thoughtless remark pushed her into a shell that she would take years to get out of. If I had known that, would I have done it?

Maybe when I made fun of one girl to another girl, that was the final straw that ended their friendship. Maybe that friendship was very beneficial to them, but now it's over. Thanks to me. If I had known that, would I have said it?

You never know if your comment can be the final straw in a marriage, or the thing that pushes someone off the derech, or any other far reaching effect. And that is why we have to be so careful. There is no such thing as an insignificant action. Every thing you do had a ripple effect. Some might be bigger than others, but the ripple is there.

Hopefully the zechus of being more careful, of trying hard not to hurt other people, even in "insignificant" ways, will bring some much needed yeshuos to klal yisroel.