yes

Ripples are why I get out of bed each day...

I just do the best I can and try to be kind. The rest of it is what it is.

I only hope I’m making some ripples..

Of course we should think in advance about what effects our actions will have. Bur, as is is not possible to know all of the effects, we should not let ourselves be immobilized by fear of the unknown.

I worry about the ripples, probably more than I should.

I try to consider the consequences. I’ve had disastrous situations when I haven’t done so, mostly in relation to my marriages

I try to live a good life but there will always be mistakes. I try not to worry about those mistakes and to go with the flow

before I realized the ripple in the pond analogy was a trite thing I decided to move through my life with that as an underpinning philosophy. IT also gave me hope that even if I did tiny good things they could carry through the system

I try to live by the golden rule, avoid unnecessary conflict and think about the consequences of my actions before forging ahead.

Try to be careful

I hope my actions here are not metaphor and do cause readers to take action reversing theocracy patriarchy that leads to jailing 2 living popes covering up felony rapist priests or war criminals in government who have silenced forever the voices of now dead victims of USA weapons and polluters who are poisoning all of us living or dead

We are all a million throws of the emotional dice, trying to imagine how each and every action we take will affect others would require a knowledge of psychology and mathematics currently unavailable right now. Given the ability to objectively parse ethics and morality is the only guide necessary.

You have an extremely overblown opinion of how much an individuals actions mean in the scheme of the universe!

Every thing. every day has an either/or, left/right, right/wrong or some such. Go down that path, this happens. Go down this path, that happens. It never stops. Had you married this person, had you married that person. What if you'd answered that phone call? What if you hadn't answered that phone call? It's all too much to worry about. Do the best you can. What else can you do? And still you'll fail at some stuff and still you'll succeed some other stuff. You can prepare, consider all the ramifications, and still screw up. Or you can get out of bed and roll nothing but 7s all day long. Ya just nevah know.

In the chaotic world in which we live, it is quite impossible for anyone to ever know what effects the ripples their life creates will have, the world is simply far too complex, while your effects go on for long after you die and spread far beyond your circle of friends, and some times the very best people doing the best of deeds will often cause the greatest harm, while evil intentions will do great good.

It is however probable, that most of the time, good actions and intentions will have better effects than bad ones, so that the best you can do is to act as morally as your understanding of morals, ( which will never itself be perfect, ) allows you to do. But mostly set a good example if you can, since our examples can often create much more powerful ripples than the physical things which we do. Which is why I always think it so sad, when I see politicians and other people in the public light acting badly, because it is not just the harm they do directly by their selfish actions , but the effect they have by being visible to many, on the moral standards of the world as a whole is always far worse.

I was wondering why you phrased your question the way you did. It seems as though you were making a tacit assumption that many or most or even all of “us” here don’t care about “the ripples their actions make.” Also the “boulder” comment not just a stone but a boulder?!? Were you being kind of negative or perhaps fed up with some apathy online here or did I just misconstrue the meaning in between the lines?

I call it, "Playing the movie 'til the end" when trying to evaluate how n action might turn out. Yes, I care very much how my ripples wash over another.

I hope my actions have a large ripple that means people are thinking with reasoning and common sense. stop following blinding and never questioning. The truth will break the slave chains of religion and set you free to think!

Depends on the situation and possible circumstances.
In some cases, I think actions SHOULD cause a ripple-effect.

I do try to think things through to their most logical conclusions.
There's always the law of unintended consequences to consider.
Although, it's kind of hard to anticipate where things "might" go.

Yours is not an either/or question.
Too many variables.

[giphy.com]. All day, every day

When it comes to myelf, I am a bit of Styrofoam on a mountain river. At the same time there is definitely a mountain in me.

I don't really think about it. I just try to be a good person cause I believe it's the right thing to do