This one stood out to me when I read it this evening. I always hope the week will go smooth. Maybe I should hope the week is productive…smooth or not.

Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. – Theodore Roosevelt

Let’s do this.

I wrote the other day about the butterfly effect. To me it is one of the most amazing thought exercises to trace back to certain points in life to see how you got where you are. How would things be different if not for that one event? do you have moments like that?

The truth is we all have several of these moments in our lives. We may not call them out for what they are. Or, we may place too much importance on them. Let me give an example.

Years ago I was in a job I hated. The work was fine, but not challenging. The environment was toxic. There was little chance of advancement. Actually, there was no chance of advancement. I would have called it comfortable misery, but it wasn’t even comfortable.

One day a friend called me and asked for my resume. He knew of a job and wanted to pass my resume to the hiring manager. So, I polished it up and sent it on. Before I knew it I was in an interview. Not long after that I got a call that changed the course of my career. The hiring manager asked me, “Would you still like to come work for us?” I wanted to shout YES! at the top of my lungs. However, I composed myself and told her, “That would be wonderful.” Two weeks later, my misery was done.

I remember clearly on my 5 year anniversary with the company I sent an email to the friend who helped get my resume to the right person. I told him thank you. His response? “Dude, I handed a piece of paper to someone 5 years ago. You thanked me then. Everything else that has happened is because of you. I’m good.”

At the time he told me that I thought he was just being modest. I now see he was hitting me with some solid truth. Yes, his action gave me the opportunity to walk down a new path. Without the phone call to ask for my resume, I wouldn’t be where I am today. But, I wouldn’t be where I am without a lot of good choices and hard work on my part too.

I have been in this career field for 13 years now. I have gotten a masters degree related to what I do. I have worked very hard to improve my skills. I left that company and now work in a different state doing even more than I did before. I wake up most every day excited to go do what I get to do.

So, what does this have to do with the butterfly effect? My friend’s actions was the initial beat of the butterfly’s wings. I added good choices and hard work to that. Others have helped me along the way. I have taken advantage of opportunities. Now, I am miles away from where I was because of a small action that turned into something huge.

What has happened in your life that is similar to this?

Happy weekend friends. If you are reading this, I am thankful for you.

It happened today. I gave a speech at Toastmasters. It was a pretty good one. I have given it before, so it went well. That’s not what happened. I got called out. It was awesome.

One of my coworkers named Jessica had my favorite evaluation of the day. She told me that the David they had come to know was back. She could tell that I was well prepared and that it showed. She contrasted it to the last few speeches I did and told me I was obviously not as well prepared for those. I was thrilled. Why? Let me explain.

It is traditional at Toastmasters to have an evaluator review your speech during the meetings. For the meeting today, everyone in attendance got up and offered advice on my presentation and how I could make it better. I really appreciated it.

I have a lot of experience in public speaking. I have been at it for several years and can deliver a pretty good speech. The problem is…I know it. I know I am pretty good at it. So, I have gotten lazy. I don’t put as much effort in. I get by on experience and talent. That works in a pinch, but it is time to move beyond that.

I want to keep growing. I want to keep improving. I want to keep moving forward. How do we do that though? How do we improve? By receiving honest feedback from those we trust. By striving for excellence and not settling for anything less. That includes being surrounded by awesome truthful people and letting themspeak in you love.

Have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? Have you held one in your hand and watched it as it flutters? Have you watched them on a spring day as you walk through a park flying all around. Have you ever felt the beat of their wings? They are beautiful creatures. Small. Graceful.

What if I told you there was amazing power hidden in their wings? That the beat of a butterfly’s wings could cause a hurricane? It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

There was a theory proposed many years ago that stated that a Butterfly’s wing beat in Africa could cause a hurricane in San Francisco. Their wings can start a chain reaction and cause huge effects. Have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? Are you sure?

It was the fall of 1997. I had just moved to Edmond Oklahoma, a sophomore at the University of Central Oklahoma. I came to study singing…I was going to be an Opera singer. Yes. It’s true. (I am glad that is not where I ended up…) When I got to campus I started attending the Baptist Student Union. I knew I needed to meet people, and am very thankful I soon met a cool guy named Matt.

Matt was a couple of years older than me. He was a college student, but also a college pastor at a good sized church in Oklahoma City. He invited me to a Singles Bible Study at his church and I was happy to come along. Over the next several months I got to spend time with Matt and learned that he was an excellent minister. He loved people. He loved getting to be a help in people’s lives. Working at the church was not his first career choice initially. He originally wanted to be a chef.

On April fool’s day in 1998 I was at the church with Matt and he introduced me briefly to a girl named Marixa. They were friends and she politely told me hi, and then talked with him for a few and went on.

Over the next few months Matt planned out different trips that the college group took. Marixa and I both went on the trips that Matt organized. We “noticed” each other on the first trip. We started dating after the second trip. A few months later we were engaged and a few months after we were married. 1998 was 22 years ago.

Since then Marixa and I have had a son and are building our family still. We were able to introduce two friends who came to our wedding to each other. They have been married now for 18 years. They have two beautiful girls.

My question is this: what if Matt had chosen to be a chef? Would I have made it to church on April fool’s day? Would I have had the chance to meet the woman who has been my best friend through thick and thin? I don’t know the answer to that, but I believe things would have been very different.

It is interesting though. What Matt did was seemingly small at the time. I was only one person in his ministry. He was a cool dude who did amazing work. He befriended me, invited me, provided a ride to church, mentored me…it is all small stuff in retrospect, but it made a huge difference in my life.

Life is like that through. If we look at it from high above, human interaction is like a tapestry. What we do weaves in and out with others. We touch each other’s lives in far reaching and impactful ways. A small thing for us can become a huge piece of someone else’s life. Think about your life. What was small at the beginning that is now huge?

What we do everyday matters. Every interaction. Everything. You never know when what you do will set of a chain reaction of awesome for someone else.

To my original question, have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? I have. I hope you have felt it too. Maybe you feel its gentle flutter now, here in this moment.