“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice for your soul is alive." - Eleonora Duse

Thanks to THIS ARTICLE, which I shared earlier on Twitter and Facebook, I learned a new word today: RIPPLEMAKER. According to Michelle Simtoco, a ‘ripplemaker’ is someone who creates ripples knowing that every thought, feeling, word or deed has an impact to the lives of others.

Michelle, a dentist turned educator, writes on Hubpages and oh, her friendly warning on her blog that there will be “plenty of pixie dust floating around here, full of love and happiness and highly, highly contagious so it warmly entices you to come back for more” instantly drawn me to her!

Anyways, James W. Foley aptly describes ‘RippleMaker’ in his poem here:

Drop a pebble in the water:
just a splash, and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples
Circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the center,
flowing on out to the sea.
And there is no way of telling
where the end is going to be.
Drop a pebble in the water:
in a minute you forget,
But there's little waves a-flowing,
and there's ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing
to a great big wave have grown;
You've disturbed a mighty river
just by dropping in a stone.
Drop an unkind word, or careless:
in a minute it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples
circling on and on and on.
They keep spreading, spreading, spreading
from the center as they go,
And there is no way to stop them,
once you've started them to flow.
Drop an unkind word, or careless:
in a minute you forget;
But there's little waves a-flowing,
and there's ripples circling yet,
And perhaps in some sad heart
a mighty wave of tears you've stirred,
And disturbed a life was happy
ere you dropped that unkind word.
Drop a word of cheer and kindness:
just a flash and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples
circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort
on each splashing, dashing wave
Till you wouldn't believe the volume
of the one kind word you gave.
Drop a word of cheer and kindness:
in a minute you forget;
But there's gladness still a-swelling,
and there's joy circling yet,
And you've rolled a wave of comfort
whose sweet music can be heard
Over miles and miles of water
just by dropping one kind word.

Inspired, I am going to drop some cheeriness in hope that the ripples will “circle on and on and on, bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave”, by sharing:

10 Things I Am Grateful For Today:

(1) That I am alive; I am grateful that this morning, as azan Subuh was calling from the Surau downstairs, I woke up on a familiar bed and given the chance to live another day.
(2) The Husband; for the love, friendship, comfort and happiness.
(3) For the darling baby Allah has blessed us with. Words will never be enough to express how thankful I am to Allah for him.
(4) The job; albeit stressful and sometimes drain the sanity out of me, I am grateful that I have a job to go to everyday, where my competence and knowledge matter, where I get to enjoy the company of other adults, where I am able to earn for the benefit of the family.
(5) Family and friends; enough said.

On a lighter note, I am also grateful for:

(6) Inventors. Geniuses who invented cars, computers, light bulbs, stoves, televisions, telephones, the Internet, oh the Internet! Everything.
(7) Apple Inc. Steve Jobs and all of you freaking geniuses at Apple Inc, thanks for iPhone 4!
(8) Fast food chains. And mamak too. 24/7 good foods, fast service, anywhere, anytime. And oh, I am grateful to whoever who started the food delivery service. Thank you for helping in creating a nation of lazy bums and couch potatoes. Yeay us!
(9) Artists; musicians, singers, actors, directors, painters. Thank you for making the world a better and livelier place with your passion and arts.
(10) And last but certainly not least: I am grateful for Twitter and Facebook, oh and blogs too. Like seriously! You people, fellow tweetpeeps, or facebookers, or bloggers, whichever clans you belong to (maybe all three, like myself?), you are all my RippleMakers.

Fellow tweetpeeps/facebookers/bloggers, I thank you and am grateful for you, for sharing your lives, knowledge, wisdom, jokes, experiences, for sharing a part of you, and in turn, making my life better, brighter, cheerier and merrier! Thank you, you RippleMakers you!


Be a ripplemaker! Drop some happiness and watch its splashing, dashing waves touch the lives of others. Start with sharing your own ‘10 Things I Am Grateful For Today’ and leave me your link here! I bet they’ll brighten up my day.

Love, laughter and light,

Marliza Radzi
Aspiring RippleMaker.