The Boomerang Effect

Recently I have had experiences that caused deep pondering and reflection about the real purpose of life and, truly, thoughts about what in life really matters. These reflections have led me to define three things that I feel are vital components of success in life, be it personal, family, business, or service. These three principles, I believe, if we are successful in implementing in our lives, will elevate us and make the world a much better place for all. I will relate these three principles to the boomerang.

A boomerang is an airfoil designed to return back to the person throwing it, given that all factors of air, wind, speed, and technique of throwing work together; it will always return to the point of origin. The boomerang has its roots with the Aborigines in Australia. Anciently it was used for hunting and the earliest evidence of a boomerang dates back 30,000 years. Today, boomerangs are used mostly for entertainment and sport.

The first principle: BE KINDER. Be kinder to those you live with, work with, to those you serve as healthcare providers, to the unknown person you meet on the street and to those who have cause to mourn. Unconditional kindness is the mark of a true professional and the epitome of a human being. Beginning today, make part of your daily planning include random acts of unconditional kindness to others. You won’t have to go out of your way to be kind to another, you simply can do it on your way.

Albert Schweitzer once said, “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” Mark Twain, referring to kindness said, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Like a boomerang, if we are kinder, it will always come back around to the point of origin to bless our lives.

The second principle: BE SELFLESS. Consider OTHERS before yourself at all times and in all places. Live outside yourself, and like the boomerang effects, it will come back to the point of origin to bless and serve you well.

A few years ago while working on a humanitarian building project in East Africa, I was taught a valuable and long lasting lesson about selflessness by a ten year old orphan named Zachary. Zachary just happened on to the work site that day. After many hours of watching this young man work relentlessly, I knelt down by his side and asked his name.

“Zachary,” he said. “Why are you here, Zachary?” I asked. “Because you need help, don’t you?” was his reply. Zachary said he was an orphan as his parents both died of HIV a few years earlier.

In response to my question regarding when he had last eaten, Zachary said it had been many days. I had a sandwich in the pocket of my cargo pants and I handed the sandwich to him. He thanked me for the sandwich, put it in his pocket, and walked back down into the work pit that was surrounded by a dozen or so children watching the workers. I was taught a powerful lesson of selflessness when I watched him take the sandwich from his pocket and break it into pieces, giving one to each of those children and leaving none for himself. Seconds later, Zachary was back in the pit shoveling just as hard as he had been all day. Selflessness. We, like Zachary, should look for ways we can give up the things we want and need for the benefit of someone else.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give,” said Sir Winston Churchill. Yes, selflessness is like a boomerang- the blessings of selflessness will always return back to the point of origin.

Thirdly, GO THE EXTRA MILE. Always do MORE than is required. Always give people more than they expect to get. Said Napoleon Hill, “The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.” From Charles Francis Adams, “No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.” In other words, give the world the best that you have, and the best will come back to you- just like the boomerang.

Through kindness, selflessness and by going the extra mile, YOU can make your world and the world at large a better place. May this be the legacy you leave in your wake. And, the promise is, all these things will find their way back to the point of origin.