The Boomerang

Whether you realize it or not, you're throwing the boomerang today. As you may know, a boomerang is an angular club you toss away from you that eventually returns to you. In the game of life, you throw the boomerang daily, in the form of actions and behaviors that you send out into the world, and that return to you at some later date -- often multiplied on the rebound.

You've probably heard this principle stated in different ways, including "What goes around comes around." Or the Biblical phrases "Give and it shall be given unto you" and "As you sow, so shall you reap."

But how does this principle apply to your day-to-day life? Simply put, if you treat others with love and respect, you will find that others will generally love and respect you. If you serve others, you will likely be served. Of course, this "law" also applies to negative behaviors. If you are critical and judgmental, don't be surprised when you are criticized and judged.

By the way, you don't always receive precisely what you send out. For example, you might steal money from others and rather than having money stolen from you in return, you could wind up in jail. But whatever the specific response, negative consequences always follow dishonest, unscrupulous actions, whereas positive results flow from fair and honorable efforts.

Before we continue, let's clear up some misconceptions about the boomerang principle. Many people don't believe in it because they fail to view it with a long-term perspective. In fact, the return for your actions is seldom immediate. There is often a long delay between your actions and the rebounding consequences.

So, if you feel that you are living a "good life" -- that you are helping others, being loyal to your friends, creative in business, and loving to your family -- and that you have yet to receive any great reward, don't despair. First of all, you might be overlooking the blessings that already exist in your life. Or, you may consider what Ralph Waldo Emerson believed about delayed rewards -- that your good deeds are earning compound interest in the "universal bank," building up value over time, and that, one day, you will receive handsome dividends. It is in this fashion that the universe rewards persistent people who diligently plod away at their ultimate goal ... and then (suddenly, it seems) attain outrageous success!

People also have trouble with the boomerang principle because they look for the return to come from the same person to whom they gave something. It doesn't usually work that way. You'll never know where the return will be coming from -- or when it will arrive -- but it always comes.

Perhaps the most useful way to observe this principle in action is to look at it "in reverse." In other words, focus on what is coming to you in life -- that will tell you what you have been sending out.

Thus, if you aren't receiving something that you want (e.g., friendship, love or honesty), consider the possibility that you have been withholding these things from those around you. What you withhold from others will be withheld from you. When you start giving these things, you will activate the flow back to yourself.

It's really quite simple: send it out and receive it back. So, if you want to receive love ... give love. If you want people to appreciate you ... show your appreciation for others. And, if you want others to help you, then lend a helping hand yourself.

You have the power to create the life you want. It all depends on how you throw the boomerang!
-- Jeff Keller© Attitude is Everything, Inc.