The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different. Of course the butterfly cannot literally cause a tornado. The kinetic energy in a tornado is enormously larger than the energy in the turbulence of a butterfly. The kinetic energy of a tornado is ultimately provided by the sun and the butterfly can only influence certain details of weather events in a chaotic manner.
If you've ever seen the movie The Butterfly Effect (2004), starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart, you would know that a small change in the system can lead to massive, irreversible changes through a series of flow-on effects.
What does this mean in everyday life?
I remember an anecdote told by one of our Psychology professors at uni. As a young boy in high school, he was one of those class clowns, trouble-makers. Call him what you will. One day, as he was being his usual mischievous, obnoxious self - his teacher reprimanded him:
"When you go to university, you cannot behave that way."
Let's backtrack a bit. This was a boy who was not performing well academically and never in his wildest dreams even contemplated going to university. These words changed his life forever. How?
The key was in the word "when". The teacher said "when you go to university", not "if you go to university". At that moment, it was as if a light that the boy didn't even know existed had been switched on inside him. He never realised until that point that his teacher believed in him that much, despite his poor academic performance. His teacher saw something that he didn't see - that he was a bright boy underneath all the disruptive behaviours.
From then, he went on to do his PhD, became a professor in Psychology, had many successful publications, and the rest is history.
Profound isn't it? How that one word can have so much impact.
I can recall a couple of turning points in my own life to illustrate. Not one-word-changed-my-life stories, but more actions that perhaps people didn't realise would have such an impact on me. Although temporally spaced quite far apart - they were indeed defining moments that have made me who I am today.
Primary School
When I was little, I loved to draw but I never thought I was that good. I took sketching classes in Hong Kong with my older brother and I was by no means the best in the class.
I was initially placed in a year 4 class when I first arrived in Sydney, even though I should have been in year 3. My teacher immediately took me under her wing.
In primary school, you often do art classes or have to draw for exercise book title pages. My teacher saw something special in me that I didn't see. She always encouraged me to draw and told me how beautiful my drawings were. My work would always grace the classroom display boards.
Coming from a culture where teachers didn't often give praise and encouragement to students, at first I thought she was lying. But after a while, I started believing her words and... believing in myself.
From then on, I continued to develop my art. At the age of 14, I probably produced the best drawing I have ever done (although a little sad... peaking at 14 years old). The following is a drawing that I did of a picture of a model from my Dolly-magazine diary back in year 9.
Amazing things happen when someone believes in you.
Winter Retreat 2008
The treacherous four-hour bush walk in the Sunnataram Forest was another defining moment in my life. As someone who is not keen on outdoor pursuits, it was an immense challenge - both mentally and physically - for me to climb rocks and dense bushes in the depths of a forest. I struggled and complained endlessly for the first half of the journey. I wanted it to end in a hurry and wished I was back in my comfy home, rather than getting myself all dirty in the wilderness.
However, during my times of struggle - many kind people lent their helping hand. They guided and walked with me to make sure I was safe, they recalled their first bush walk experiences to draw parallels on what I was feeling at the time, they encouraged me to keep going...
By the second half of the journey, despite my growing tiredness, I was coping much better with the rough terrain. And finally, we reached pot of gold on the end of the rainbow - The Cliff. I had my doubts about this Cliff - who cares about some stupid Cliff anyway? But seeing the world from mountain-top, the view took my breath away. This is what I achieved. I had reached the top.
Something I took away from this trip was that there are always obstacles in life. But with the support and encouragement from people around you - you can achieve what you initially thought was impossible.
Words cannot express how grateful I am to my fellow bush walkers for offering their support.
Flowing On
Just as the butterfly does not cause the tornado, but rather, changes the trajectory of the tornado - others' speech and actions towards you do not create the path in your life. Rather, they act as a catalyst. Then only if you are receptive and proactive, can you find the strength within yourself to change your own destiny. But indeed, those catalysts are necessary ingredients to provide the impetus for change.
How many hearts do we touch by our kindness? What impact does that have on those individuals whose hearts you touch, who then go on to touch others' hearts? This is the Butterfly Effect.
One word...
One gesture...
Can change a person's life forever.
What impact are you having on others today?
