Some time ago, I listened to the MD of a large and successful company talking to about a hundred of his employees. When question time came, one young man asked what the point of the talk was — "After all," he said, "I'm just one person. What can I do?"

Now, that's a funny thing to say. Everyone is just one person. Every social worker, every mother, every famous person, every shop attendant, everyone is just one person. I think the young man really meant, "I'm just me." He probably thought that his actions meant little or nothing. But, every action means plenty. Every decision you make, every act you do, affects someone or something. Even if the young man couldn't see how he affected others, nevertheless he did.

Consider… Suppose that today you say something rude to the shop attendant. He goes home in a bad mood and takes it out on his wife. She goes off to work unhappy and shouts at her secretary. He gets upset and takes it out on a supplier, who then gets angry with his daughter that evening. She goes to school the next day and bullies a smaller child. And so on, and so on… Too many people hurt by a simple unfeeling reaction.

It's easy to lash out at people you don't know, or to criticise others whose situations you don't understand. It's easy — but it hurts. And it's not nice. Try to see the person behind the face, the family he or she belongs to, the fears and dreams in that person!

Everything you do has a domino effect. Imagine that! You don't have to do something big to do a great deal of good. As Mother Theresa said, "I can do no great things, only small things with great love." She brought amazing happiness and relief — one tiny amount at a time.

Tomorrow — no, today! — smile at someone, say or do something nice that you didn't need to. Wish the till operator a good day. Give someone the gift of your tolerance and forgiveness. Allow people the mistakes that you wish others would allow you. Think of the domino effect… and wonder to yourself how many people in the next 24 hours will benefit from your small action. Just like a seed that grows and flourishes…

I heard a story of a man walking along a beach. He saw the tide bringing in many starfish, leaving them behind on the beach to die. He took a few steps, picked up a starfish and threw it back into the water. He kept on doing that. Another man, interested, caught up with him and asked, "What are you doing? There are thousands of starfish. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The first man calmly picked up another starfish and threw it back into the water. "It made a difference to that one," he replied.

Now, imagine that every day you do some tiny good to someone that you don't need to. It doesn't matter if it's a stranger or someone close to you. By the end of a year, you will have planted 365 unnecessary seeds of happiness. Now multiply this by the domino effect. By the end of a lifetime, how much good will you have brought into the world through tiny deeds?

Further reading

• www.webtalkguys.com/article-neds.shtml (Scroll down to "Can you give me an example" — A fantastic true story about the difference a tiny action can make.)