Emotional Wake
In our hurry to reach our daily destinations, most of us are unaware of the turmoil (emotional wake) we leave behind. Often, that wake is the clearest picture we will ever get of the impact we have on others.
Eric Chunn | Capital Thinking:
Imagine stepping on to the most luxurious outdoor deck you've ever seen.
As you settle into a comfortable chair, you glance around and notice the house itself is perched high on a rocky point just above a deep blue mountain lake ringed with tall green pines. The weather is absolutely perfect, with just a faint hint of pine and mountain lavender on the the gentle breeze.
There is not a cloud in the sky.
The snowy peaks of nearby mountains are so perfectly reflected in the lake's surface that you have a hard time telling where the water stops and the land begins.
Sipping your coffee, you become aware of a sound in the distance. Hardly noticeable at first, it grows louder by the minute, but you struggle to locate the source.
Suddenly, a small boat bursts into view. Watching it skip lightly across the water, you can't help but notice the difference between the glass-like surface in front of the boat and the roiling water left in its wake.
Almost as quickly as it came, the boat is gone; the annoying buzzing sound following along after it like a swarm of angry bees. At last, even that fades away to nothing.
Taking another sip of coffee, you lean back and begin to enjoy the peaceful morning once more. A shadow moves across the water, the mountain peak reflected in the lake shudders a bit before it settles quietly again.
It's the wake.
Long after the boat is gone, the waves caused by its passing continue to slap on shore one after another. Some fade into nothing before they even reach the shoreline while others bounce into each other creating newer, smaller waves that once again begin the long journey back into deeper water and across the lake.
So it is with us. In our hurry to reach our daily destinations, most of us are unaware of the turmoil (emotional wake) we leave behind. Often, that wake is the clearest picture we will ever get of the impact we have on others.
I ask you: Is the wake you leave behind a positive one; full of hope and encouragement? Or, is it the other kind - fueled by self interest and left in haste?
Originally posted on Capital Thinking NOVEMBER 12, 2011