The Ripple Effect

How to Be A Champion Decision Maker

A three year old boy was playing in his father’s workshop. Pushing the envelope as most unsupervised boys do, he picked up his father’s knife and started to play with it. Somehow he poked himself in the eye with the sharp knife. Since he didn’t have access to medical care, his parents tried using herbs and natural remedies. Unfortunately, their attempts to save his eye didn’t work. Because of the spreading infection, or perhaps a weakened immune system, his other eye was also damaged. Now, he was blind in both eyes. But this little boy made a decision, “Even though I may not have my eyesight, I still have my life.” He went on to become a fine student and an accomplished musician.
His greatest achievement came when he was only fifteen years old. He developed a dot-dash reading method that was punched into thin cardboard. He worked out a complete alphabet, punctuation marks, and numbers. Now, thousands of people can take their index finger and translate two to three thousand little dots into 120 words per minute. This reading method could have never been developed by someone who had 20/20 vision. It took someone who knew the personal challenges of being blind to establish the system. His name, as you probably guessed by now, was Louis Braille. When his eyesight was taken from him, Louis Braille made the life-defining decision not to give up. Instead, he decided to make his mark on history by creating a reading system for the blind. Now, thousands of people read Braille and enjoy a greater quality of life. It all started with a heart-felt decision.
He’s called “Bill,” or “Bill W.” Call him what you may, but as a hopeless alcoholic, one day Bill Wilson made a decision. He said, “I will not take another drink. No matter what, I will not.” He had made similar promises before, but this time he meant business. Bill made that decision on December 11, 1934 and he made the same decision for the next 36 years. He decided he would rearrange his life without alcohol.
Bill had been sober for six months until he made a trip out of town, where a business opportunity fell through. Feeling dejected in the hotel lobby, he heard the familiar sounds of his past—ice rattling in a bottom of a glass, laughter, and conversations buzzing with life. He took a few steps in the direction of the bar thinking, “I need a drink.” Thankfully, his second thought was saner than his first one. “No, I don’t need a drink,” he thought, “What I need is another alcoholic.”
Instead of picking up a beer, he picked up a telephone in the lobby of the bar. The phone call began a pattern of calls that would put him in touch with Dr. Bob Smith, the very man who would become his foxhole friend against alcohol. That one decision led to the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous, which, in turn, has changed the lives of millions of alcoholics. Bill Wilson has been lauded as one of the top 20 Heroes and Icons of the 20th century. His heroism, though, started with one decision.
One another day, an unassuming Sunday school teacher who worked as a seamstress made a decision. She said, “No, I will not move to the back of the bus. I’m tired of the injustice. I’m tired of the mistreatment. I’m tired of being treated like a second class citizen. Do whatever you will. Arrest me. Throw me in jail. I’m not going to give my seat up simply because I’m black. I have made my decision.” That one decision from Rosa Parks forever changed the conscience of our nation. It sparked the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott which in turn created a public symbol for the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Parks made one decision which changed the course of our entire country.
Decisions matter. One decision you make can literally change the world. Just ask Louis Braille, Bill Wilson, and Rosa Parks. Outside of God himself, one of the most remarkable forces at work in the universe is the power of a human being to make a decision. Everyday, we make decisions that set in motion the ripple effect.