The Connection Between us

  “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.“ To me, this quote simply means that our lives are all somehow connected, and that the decisions we make today can have an affect on our lives as well as the lives of others. In the story, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”, by Mitch Albom, a man named Eddie meets the five people who had the biggest impact on his life and learns an important lesson from each of them.
  The first person Eddie meets in heaven is the blue man. When Eddie was a child, he was playing baseball with his friends and the ball rolled out into the street. As Eddie went after it, he caused the truck that was coming down the street to swerve and barely miss hitting him. The Blue man, who was driving the truck, crashes into a parked car and dies. It was because of Eddies decision to chase after the ball that he crashed his truck and died. The blue man teaches Eddie that all lives are connected and that your decisions can have an effect on other people.
  Eddie also meets an old woman named Ruby, even though Eddie never met her, she still had a big impact on his life. Ruby’s husband was the man who built the original Ruby Pier. This was where Eddie grew up, worked, and died. If the pier was never built, Eddie wouldn’t have worked there, and he wouldn’t have died from the roller coaster accident that happened at the pier.
  After reading this story, I have learned that the decisions we make can affect other peoples lives, and that all of our lives are connected in some way.

The Connection of All People

          People do not realize their significance and their actions that affect other people’s lives. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom shows how people are connected to one other. In the story, Eddie meets Joseph Corvelzchik in heaven and he tells him “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” This means that everyone is connected through their decisions and impacts each other lives.  The choices of other people and sacrifice play a big role in changing other lives.

          In the story, Eddie meets Ruby, the person the pier is named after. She later tells him that if it wasn’t for her husband, there wouldn’t be a pier. And if there was not pier, Eddie would not be working there. This is an example of how people’s choices can later affect people in life. The decision of Ruby and her husband gave Eddie his job and gave him a place to grow up.

          The second person Eddie meets in heaven is the Captain. He sacrificed his life to save Eddie and the others in the truck. According to the story “The land mine exploded instantly…It blew the Captain 20 feet in the air and split him into pieces…” If nobody had went out to check for the land mines, everybody in the transporter would have been killed. This decision extended the rest of their lives and helped them get back to safety.

          The people Eddie meets in heaven and their encounters in real life are examples on how people affect other lives. All the accidents Eddie has prevented by fixing rides, kept all the people who rode them safe. He affects everyone at the pier and we also make countless decisions that affect the people around us everyday.

Tangled Together

“You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate wind from a breeze.” means simply that we are all connected, through every decision no matter how insignificant it may seem. For example, Eddie’s life is connected to a boy that once visited the amusement park. He chose to put his car keys in the pocket of a jacket that was tied around his waist. It fell out during one of the rides and hit a cable wire that gradually ripped over time. Eventually, the wire snapped. This seemingly small decision caused Eddie to lose his Earthly being.

Another example would be Eddie’s captain. In the story, he saved Eddie from burning in a fire as he chased after what he assumed to be someone stuck in the flames. His captain made the call to shoot Eddie in the knee as to get him out of the fire. Afterwards, he chose to go ahead of Eddie and the others to see if it was safe to continue down the road. He ended up dying in an explosion. Their lives are undoubtedly connected in many more ways than one. If his captain had not shot Eddie, there was a possibility that Eddie could have died and there was a slight chance that his captain would have survived in his stead.

Every Action or Decision has Purpose Towards the Future

       Within each day, a person is often faced with decisions. Whether minor or major, the outcome of these decisions will determine many factors of the future. Each action has a reaction. In the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the main character, Eddie, passes away. In attempts to save a small child from a falling cart in the amusement park he worked at for decades, an awful mistake occurred, causing his death. Based on this story, when you pass and go to Heaven, you meet five important figures in your lifetime. After arriving in Heaven, Eddie meets Joseph Corvelzichik, also known as The Blue Man.

     Even though he was never aware of it, The Blue Man played a huge role in Eddie’s life. Many years before his death, Eddie ran after a ball that had rolled onto the street. What he didn’t know was that The Blue Man, at that exact time, almost hit Eddie with his vehicle. Instead, The Blue Man swerved out of the way, saving him. A short time after that, The Blue Man’s weak heart could not handle the adrenaline he dealt with after the incident and died of a heart attack. Eddie was responsible for his death. This is an example of freewill and fate. It was freewill because Eddie had the free decision to take a risk and get his ball. It was fate because God planned that both people would cross paths in that time at that place.

 When Eddie was told the truth, he was distraught. That was then when The Blue Man told him this, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can a breeze from the wind.” This means that even sometimes when we believe that “…such things are random…there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.” When tragic events happen, it all comes down to the actions, decisions, and the freewill of some that lead up to the fate of others.

     

Life Changing Decisions

Life Changing Decisions

       The prompt "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." means to me that everyone has a reason to do something and that ends up affecting someone else. The book, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, by Mitch Albom, shows this by taking you through Eddie's memories of childhood, adulthood, and old age. When Eddie was a child he ran in front of a car to get a ball. The man slammed on his brakes, and later died from a heart attack. The "Blue Man" in heaven tells Eddie, "' That death doesn't just take someone it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed lives are changed.'" If the "Blue Man" had never slammed on his brakes Eddie would be dead, but Eddie went to the Blue Man's funeral instead of the "Blue Man" going to Eddie's funeral.
       The second person, was Eddie's captain in the war. He gave up his life and sacrificed himself to save his fellow men. The captain says, "' You just don't know it yet I gained something too...I got to keep my promise. I didn't leave you behind.'" He kept his promise and didn't leave his men behind. He sacrificed his life so Eddie and the others could live to see another day.
       When Eddie felt like his old self, he learned from a little girl his reason for being alive and his impact on others' life. When Eddie asks "'Why?'" he was supposed to be at Ruby Pier, she replies, "' Children...You keep them safe.'" Eddie thought his reason for being at Ruby Pier was because of his father. But, Tala says he was there to keep children safe. Eddie affected the children and everyone who went to Ruby Pier by keeping them safe. His reasons for staying affected others just like others actions affected him and his life.

Heaven intersects

            Destiny. Fate. Providence. Whether we chose to believe it, everything happens for a reason. When reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven you really start to understand life and how the choices you make can affect yourself but also the people around you. A quote from the five people you meet in heaven states, “There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” To me, the quote from The Blue Man means that nothing in this world just effects one person, no matter what there will be a cause and effect affecting someone else. What I chose to do today could consequently affect someone’s tomorrow.

            The first person Eddie meets in heaven is a man named Joseph Corvelszchik, also referred to as The Blue Man because of his skin color caused by an overdose on silver nitrate. Eddie remembers the Blue Man from his childhood, back when Ruby Pier had a freak show. The Blue Man then explains that because Eddie ran into the street chasing after his ball when he was a kid The Blue Man had to quickly brake in order to miss Eddie and died of a heart attack because the shock distracted him so much.  When Eddie learns that he was a contributor in the death of The Blue Man he was in shock. The Blue Man goes on to tell him that all lives are connected and intersect in one-way or another. Everything has a positive and negative reaction resulting in some people dying so others could live. Even though Eddie did not know Joseph Corvrlszchik before meeting him in heaven, they were connected his whole life.

            In conclusion, everyone views stories and novels in different ways. The way I choose to view it is as a man who learns about accidental consequence. When reading I learned so much about connection and love. Weather we chose to belive it, everything happens for a reason. Heaven intersects.

The Affects of Life

     Decisions made today will somehow change the lives of others tomorrow. Each and every decision you make can change the lives of others around you. Every choice has an impact. It may be big or small but, it affects life. Any person can affect you or the people around you. We may have different paths but everyone is connected in some way. In the novel, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", the first person Eddie meets is the Blue Man. His name is Joseph Corvelzchik and he died saving Eddie's life. He shows Eddie how one little thing can change somebody's life.
     During their visit Joseph states, "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." When the Blue Man explains his death, disappointment is Eddie's first reaction. He realizes that the Blue Man died after their short encounter on Earth. Although Eddie never met the Blue Man, he forever changed his life with a very small connection.
      Joseph goes on to explain how no act is random and that everyone is connected. Eddie's choice to run out in the street to retrieve a ball ultimately cost the Blue Man his life. Yet the Blue Man's choice to prevent hitting a boy in the street saved Eddie's . "We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole." Every decision we make affects life in some way. Decisions made today will somehow change the lives of others tomorrow.

Chains of Life

       In the story, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie, has to meet five people that had an influence on his life. The first person Eddie had to meet in heaven was a man named Joseph Corvelzchik, or the Blue Man. Joseph told Eddie “ That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind “. This quote means that no matter how big or how small the act is, one decision can not only alter your life, but every life around you. It also means that there is always a plan. God has a plan for each of us, even if we cannot see it.

       When Eddie was speaking to the Blue Man , Eddie learned that when he was a child, his actions resulted in the Blue Man dying. Even though Eddie never meant to kill the Blue Man, when he ran out in the street for the ball, that action caused the Blue Man to swerve, to have a heart attack and ultimately to die. If the Blue Man had not seen Eddie in time, he could have killed Eddie instead. However, this was not God’s plan for either of them, so he saved Eddie's life.

       Later in in Eddie’s journey, he had met this woman that he had never met before. Eddie found out that the woman's name was Ruby, and that her and her husband had built Ruby Pier. Eddie had never known this woman, but she had a major influence on his life. Without Ruby and her husband building Ruby Pier, Eddie and his father wouldn’t have worked there. Which would have made not only Eddie’s life change drastically, but it would have changed his whole families life.

       The chains of life are what bond everyone together. No life is more  or less than any other, just like links in a chain.  

Everything happens for a reason

The "Five People You Meet in Heaven " is based the life and death of a man named Eddie. When Eddie had passed away he went through a series of people he had known , impacted , or people who had impacted him.Some of the people had shown him things that he had not realized on earth . All the five people showed him the way that he was impacted by their decisions in life . This book shows us that we have to be careful of our actions because we may never know the way it can affect the world around us .

No Random Acts

                What can you do to make someone’s day? It doesn’t even have to be someone you know. You could smile at a little girl walking down the street, and it could make her entire day because you don’t know how tough her life is at home. She’s lucky to get attention at home and happy that you smiled at her. She could be prompted to do the same exact thing. Be nice to somebody else just as you were in smiling at her. Then somebody else is nice because of that little girl, and so it continues. As you can see, there are no random acts. The book The Five People You Meet in Heaven says, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” In this scenario, you were meant to smile at that little girl. There are no random acts, and all acts affect almost everyone because we are all connected.

                “What goes around comes around.” Have you ever heard this saying? This is what I’m talking about. You smile at that little girl “What goes around comes around,” and now someone is returning the five dollars that fell out of your pocket. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven the main character Eddie was nice to a little girl and made a rabbit out of pipe cleaners for her. “What goes around comes around,” and,” That there are no random acts.” His fifth person he meets in heaven, the little girl, said that she pulled him into heaven to keep him safe.

                The fact that there are no random acts is what connects us all. In the book, if Ruby and her husband had decided to not build Ruby Pier, then Eddie wouldn’t have had a place to grow up and have a job. Except for his time during the war, Eddie spent his entire life at Ruby Pier. Also, Eddie had never met Ruby or her husband, yet they still had a major impact on Eddie’s life.

                In the movie Epic by DreamWorks, they say, ”Many leaves. One tree.” We are all individuals, yet connected by something much bigger than ourselves. This definitely relates to, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected.” When one leaf falls off the tree, it’s so that another leaf can thrive in its place. The book says, “We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows.” Because we are all connected, it is important that we “Think before we act.” If our actions can affect almost everyone, don’t you want to have a positive impact on this world? We are all connected by the not-so-random acts.

A Room Full of People

     In the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven the main character, Eddie, meets five people in heaven that teach him five different lessons about his life. One of the lessons Eddie learns is," That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." Ultimately this is stating that everyone you meet and everything you do in life has a purpose, nothing happens randomly. We are all connected and significant to others even if we do not know it. Eddie thought during his life he did not do or accomplish anything, but later on he realized his life was much more important than he thought.

     While in heaven, Eddie met people he knew and also people he had not met during his lifetime. Even though Eddie had not met these people, they still had a huge impact in his life. For example, Eddie was confused at first when he met his fifth person, Tala. As Eddie talked to her, he soon realized that she was the figure he had seen in the fire at the village during the war. She tells Eddie that his life was not lost or empty, that even though he did not save her from the fire, he saved every single child that went on the rides at the pier. Tala tells Eddie," You keep them safe. You make good for me," as a way to make him understand that his life and what he did in it was important. 

     Life is like a room full of people, some people you notice while others notice you. As you are standing in that room full of people, your life, the ones you don't care to look at can be the ones who only look at you. You may not know the people that impact your life the most. As the quote from the book says, " That there are no random acts," everything happens for a certain reason. Some people you know and some you don't are the reason your life is the way it is. 

No Accidents

            “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” explains that when you die, you go to heaven and meet five people. Each of those people teach you a lesson. In the book, the main character, Eddie, is taught a lesson from each of his five people. His first person tells him, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” This quote means that every action happens for a reason, and that what happens to you affects everyone, because everyone is connected.

            First, “That there are no random acts,” means that every action happens for a reason. “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” states,” ‘What good came from your death?’ ‘You lived.’” The passage also states, “‘When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows.’” It wasn’t random that the guy died. He died so Eddie could live.

            Next, “That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind,’ means that what happens to you affects everyone, because everyone is connected. The story states, “’ Some did not even know me well, yet they came…It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect.’” The story also states, “’ that death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.’” The people felt like they needed to go to the funeral, because they know they are all connected. It could have been them that died.  

Two Sides to Every Coin

Two Sides to Every Coin

            People often say there are two sides to every story. The narrator of the story says “Take one story, viewed from two different angles.” I viewed this statement as connected consequences.

            As there are two sides to every coin there are two sides of every story. While Eddie was meeting the Blue Man in heaven he opened Eddie’s mind to the day when his birthday gift, a baseball, got thrown into the street. At the time the only consequence Eddie faced was having to go into the street to grab his baseball. Running out in front of a car, while the other side of the story has a completely different consequence, death. The Blue Man, who was driving the car Eddie ran out in front, slams on his brakes to keep from hitting the kid. After regaining control of the car he is full of adrenaline which makes his feeble heart beat at a rapid speed. This in turn causes the Blue Man to have a collision with the rear of a parked truck and die on site of the crash. If Eddie hadn’t been the cause of the Blue Man’s sudden death, he would never have met him in heaven or learned a valuable lesson.

            Another example from the story starts when, Nicky, a boy who just recently got his driving license, went to Ruby Pier with his friends where he lost his car key. I’m sure when Eddie heard the news of Nicky’s lost key he didn’t think it would mean himself dying. In conclusion we are simply all connected no matter what we may think is just a harmless act.

            Connected consequences leads mostly to bad things happening in this book, but in reality good can come from being connected in the real word to people who were caught in the cross fire. Being connected just as a breeze and the wind are can be very difficult. Eddie learned this lesson from the various people he meets in heaven.

Lives Intertwined

                The word connection is defined as a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else. The idea that all lives are connected is a widely debated one that varies from person to person. The book The Five People You Meet In Heaven is based around the central idea that you cannot separate one life from another.             

                The quote, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind,” is used by the Blue Man to explain to Eddie that the small event in his life affected the Blue Man’s life greatly. Eddie lived his whole life with the belief that he never greatly affected anyone's life. When Eddie is taken through this chain of events in his afterlife he realizes that he was wrong. The book further explains that Eddie, a seemingly insignificant person in life, has an impact on plenty of people who he didn’t even know’s lives. This leads the reader to understand that nothing happens without consequence. Whether the consequence is placed upon you or someone else is believed to be upon the universe to decide. Therefore, everyone and thing in the universe has a relationship with each other. Every action whether small or large has a reaction somewhere else in the world.

                In conclusion, there are many signs that point to all lives being connected in some way, shape, or form. All lives are modeled to fit one another whether it be relevant to both people in the chain or not.

A Maze of Connections

      As we live our lives we go through a journey of twist and turns with paths that have people at every corner. These people can change our lives without us even knowing it and we can do the same to them. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, the Blue Man says, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” Our lives are connected to so many others and we could easily do one thing that can create a ripple in others life. We may not realize it but these upsets in other peoples’ lives are going on all around us. So we should be careful with what we say or do with others lives because it could just come back on us.

     The Five People You Meet in Heaven, really touches on the thought that what we do in our lives not only affects us, but also others around us. From the story it reads, “They were there, or would be there because of the simple, mundane things Eddie had done in his life, the accidents he had prevented, the rides he had kept safe, the unnoticed turns he had affected every day.” Eddie thought he had done nothing worthwhile in his life, but what he didn’t noticed was that he had keep so many young children safe. Lots of times we may do things that can have positive or negative consequences on not only us but others too but for some reason we don’t even seen notice this happening.

    Our lives are like a maze of connections with others running around looking for a way out and it can be hard to see that sometimes we hit a dead end. Sometimes when we hit a dead end and we don’t know why but it can be because of the people in our lives. Nothing is ever a coincidence and so when people come into our lives they may cause hurt and their most likely a lesson. Others can be a positive life lesson but all in all people will come into your life no matter what. It’s amazing to see how everyone is connected to each other in this life and the next.

The Crossroads of Life

People often don't realize the significance of their decisions and the way their choices impact other people. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom shows how all lives are connected and how one choice affects another. When Eddie reaches heaven, he meets Joseph Corvelzchik, referred to as the Blue Man. The Blue Man states, "'That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.'" All lives may be separate, but this quote means that all lives are linked through the decisions people make. Lives can be changed through sacrifice, loyalty, or even simple everyday choices.

     In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie encounters many situations in which his life was effected by other peoples' choices, yet sometimes he was unaware of it. The Captain, the second person Eddie meets in heaven, sacrifices his life to save Eddie and the other men that escaped from the captors. As stated in the novel, "The path was clear. He waved to his men...a small click sounded beneath his right foot. The land mine exploded instantly..." If the Captain had not gone ahead and stepped on the land mine, the whole group of men would have been killed. This shows that by sacrificing his own life, the Captain saved several other people including Eddie. This one decision affected Eddie's life, along with many others, in numerous ways.

The third person Eddie meets in heaven is Ruby, and he later finds out that Ruby Pier was named after her. According to the novel, "'If not for Emile, I would have no husband. If not for our marriage, there would be no pier. If there'd been no pier, you would not have ended up working there.'" This is an example of how even a person's choices from years before Eddie was ever born affected his life and many others. Ruby also explained to Eddie parts of his father's life that he was unaware of. She explains that he witnessed his friend harassing his wife and then later rescues him after almost drowning. After getting out of the water, Eddie's father lay there, wet, in the sand for a while. His body was vulnerable and weak, and he eventually died from pneumonia. After making the decision to be loyal to his friend and save his life, it cost him his own.

These are examples of how all lives are affected by another persons' choices and actions. According to the novel, "...children from the past and the present, children who had not yet been born...They were there, or would be there, because of the simple, mundane things Eddie had done in his life, the accidents he prevented, the rides he had kept safe, the unnoticed turns he had affected every day." The people on the pier represent everyone Eddie affected during his lifetime, and it is proof that we affect everyone around us in countless ways every single day.

Everything That Happens In Your Life Has A Purpose

          From the novel The Five People You Meet In Heaven Joseph Corvelchik, also known as the Blue Man, is the first person Eddie meets. Joseph says "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." This means to me that even if we aren't connected by blood or marriage, were connected by our actions. Just one of the many examples would be the night the Blue Man died. Eddie was just throwing a baseball with his friends when it rolled into the street. When he went to retrieve it, a car swerved to the side just in time to not hit him. Eddie went back to his friends and continued the game. From the drivers point of view, which also happens to be the Blue Man, his night ends quite differently. Joseph is driving on the wet road from earlier that morning in his friend's car. Suddenly a little boy is chasing his baseball out onto the street. Joseph swerves and somehow regains control of the car. After thinking how close he came to tragedy a jolt of adrenaline forces his heart to pump very quickly, leaving him feeling dizzy. While this is happening he nearly collides with another vehicle, Joseph quickly turns down an alley. His vehicle rolls into a parked truck and the impact caused him to hit his head against the steering wheel. When getting out to check the damage he collapses, when someone finally finds him an hour later its too late. The cause of death is listed as a heart attack. If Eddie hadn't gone out into the street, there would have been a different outcome that day. Another example is when Eddie went off to war. While in Philippines Eddie was captured along with four other soldiers and the captain. When escaping they decided to burn down all the huts in the village. After Eddie set fire to the last hut he thought he saw a person inside possibly even a child. Just before he could run inside he was shot in the leg. If Eddie wasn't shot that night, he would have died in the fire. After the war Eddie went home and didn't talk much about the war. What he didn't know was on the way to bring him to a hospital they came to a gate. The Captain got out to check if it was safe he stepped on a land mine and died. If the Captain didn't die that night, it could have easily been the truck that drove over the land mine and they would be all dead. In the end whatever way you see it, we are all connected somehow.

All Are Equal In God's Eyes

     In the book, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," the protagonist, Eddie, dies and meets a blue man in heaven who tells Eddie,"'That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.'" To me this means that everything happens for a reason. It also means that no matter how well you may or may not know someone, there is still a connection between the two of you.  That everyone should be able to have the rights and ability to do anything and everything that anyone else can because God sees us each the same; as one of his children.

     Everything happens for a reason because God has a reason to everything. In  the book, the blue man explains the reason he died; to save a child's life. That child turned out to be Eddie. Eddie later goes on to die trying to save a child just like the blue man did. This shows that all lives are connected in some way. Whether or not you know it, anything you do can gravely affect any stranger's life. So no matter what, all lives are connected.

Intricately Connected

            The quote, "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate the breeze from the wind." in the novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven  has multiple meanings and effects our daily lives. What this quote means to me is that every decision we make in life not only has a reaction to ourselves but everyone around us. Most people don't think twice when making easy decisions but little questions can cause major problems.

             In the novel there are multiple scenarios where this topic comes to play. Although Eddie had a normal life and didn't think anything of himself he was a life changer to multiple people. When he finds out he killed The Blue Man, Eddie is astonished because he never knew about the accident. "'LISTEN,MISTER,' Eddie rasped, 'I never killed you, OK? I don't even know you'". All Eddie was doing was throwing a ball with his brother and later he finds out he killed a man doing it. It is a crazy thing to think about because all lives are intertwined, no matter the differences. A minute decision can change someone's life forever. It is almost as if it is a chain. All lives are intricately molded together.

The Domino Effect

              The quote from The Five People You Meet in Heaven,"That there are no random acts,that we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." This means to me that we all have an impact on each other's lives whether we realize it or not. This also means to me that you can have hope where you least expect it. For example in the novel Eddie, the main character, runs into the street after a baseball, at that moment a car was driving down the street and barely misses Eddie. Although Eddie walks away without a scratch, it wasn't the same situation with the driver of the car. In fact the driver, Joseph Corvelzchik, also known as the blue man, has a heart attack as a result of shock and a weak heart, Joseph dies in an alley. Eddie was was taught this by the blue man and realizes that we are all connected, later on he meets another one of his five, her name was Ruby. Ruby Pier had been named after this Ruby, if it wasn't for her Eddie would have never worked his whole life and died at the place named after her. Everything happens for a reason, you may think it's unfair at the time for something to happen to you and not someone else, but if that one thing changed so would everything else. If you took dominos for example, if one didn't fall in the exact place it was supposed to then everything would be off. Joseph also tells Eddie,"People feel they should gather when others die because they all know that death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in that short distance of being taken and being missed, lives are changed." I feel that this says we all know that things may seem bad, but you just haven't seen what good will come out of the bad yet, so that we can have hope.  

No life is Unimportant

There is no one life that is invaluable or uninvolved. Everyone is connected to others whether they know it yet or not. The prompt of this blog,” There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.”, This means that no one life is unimportant. Everyone matters and plays an important role in many other people’s lives although they may not be aware of it yet.

In the story “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” Eddie Is Involved in many people’s lives including one called The Blue Man. In the story, Eddie and the Blue Man could not be more different. For example, Eddie is a small boy where The Blue Man is in a traveling circus act at the time because of his unusual blue skin color. In the story Eddie is the cause of the Blue Man’s death because he ran in front of him to get a baseball in the street while the Blue Man was driving and the Blue man had a heart attack and died. But, the Blue Man teaches Eddie that we are all connected, that there are no random acts that you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.  This is the theme of the story and I believe it could not be more true because of how many times it is portrayed in the story and because how opposite Eddie is from the Blue Man. Another example of how lives are connected is when kills the small girl in the hut fire. Although Eddie feels very bad for killing her she helped him by pulling him into heaven, and he eventually made it right by washing her scars from the burns away.

To me,” There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another that you can separate a breeze from the wind,” means that no one life is invaluable. Saying no life is unimportant means that everyone is important and involved in others’ lives even if those people may not know it yet.

A Heavenly Encounter

Every action in life has a meaningful impact on many lives. Even when there are no clear intentions, there are always unintended consequences. Every action has a consequence, and every consequence is caused by another's action. Whether the result is catastrophic or inconsequential.
    My English 1 Honors teacher gave the assignment to read the book  The Five People You Meet in Heaven. When first reading the summary I was completely uninterested. But upon reading it, I fell in love with the concept that nothing is random. For Eddie, when the ball went into the road, it caused a chain reaction that ended the blue man's life. This incident was catastrophic without Eddie ever knowing it. The phrase "there are no random acts" to me means that nothing happens without a trigger, whether the person performing the action knows it or not. There is always a cause and effect in any situation. For Eddie, that was realized in Heaven.
    "You can no more separate one life from another than a breeze from the wind". All people are connected in some way. Some ways are more complex than others. Some connections, like when Eddie's father was friends with the blue man, who was accidentally killed by Eddie, aren't known right away. And some connections are never known.
     Nothing in life happens without a reason. Every action in life is a product of another action. All things are part of a bigger picture. Just like when Eddie didn't understand why his father gave his life for Mickey Shea, but later realized that Mickey had done so much for his father, and that deserved a debt for life.

Lives random acts

      The phrase "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate the breeze from the wind". To me means that all lives are connected. That what we do now can change someone else's life later on. what someone else does can affect your life in many different ways. That nothing happens randomly that every thing has a reason for happening behind it. This happens to Eddie when he finds out that the pier him and his dad had worked at there entire lives.  The place that caused Eddie so much pain in his life was made by a women that Eddie or his father never met. Supports the phrase that all lives are connected.

How when Eddie was younger he ran out in to the street after his toy and was almost hit by a car. The thing that Eddie didn't know was that the driver of the car had a weak heart. So when Eddie came running out on to the street hit scared the man causing the man to have a massive heart attack causing the man to die that day. But Eddie never knew the driver and the driver never knew Eddie. Though there lives are so connected. Through this one act years ago. Providing evidence that there are no random acts and that all lives are connected. 

Connected

Connected
The definition of connected is to bring together or into contact so that a real or notional link is established. It’s a word people use in many ways, but in this case, it’s a word used to say that people are linked. The one thing that keeps people connected is not how we meet or who, its life that keeps us all together. Life has a strange way of keeping people connected even in the oddest situations.
When someone is first meeting a person, they may not realize the impact they could have on their lives or even someone mentioning of a name in a conversation. When a person may do an act of kindness and open a door or take the time and apologize for running into someone, could have easily changed a person’s day. Just like in the novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven Eddie as a child ran into a road chasing after a ball and around the corner the Blue Man drove with the car and thankfully swerved around the child. Soon after the Blue Man later died with heart failure and crashed the car and then died. In the novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven the Blue Man states, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” This explains that just a bit of a persons presence could change a person's life and keep them connected in some way.
In conclusion, to me, the quotes mean that people should be aware of their actions because it could change their life. People’s actions is what makes a person, it’s the first think people see when they meet. That when they are linked they are always connected from beginning to end.

All Lives Intertwine

“We are all connected,” in other words all lives intertwine. You never know how your life will affect others or what impact others’ lives will have on you. What may seem like a common occurrence to you could change someone else’s life. For example in “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” the first person Eddie meets in Heaven is the Blue Man who tells him this quote, "that there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."  The Blue Man and Eddie had a very simple but life changing encounter. Because Eddie was a young boy, this may have been a scary experience for him but he may have never thought of this experience after that day. However, the Blue Man’s life was forever changed. With the almost-accident on his mind, he crashes into a parked car, has a heart attack, and dies.

Another experience Eddie had that was significant to him and forever changed someone was the last person Eddie meets in Heaven. When Eddie was in the Philippines during the war he blew up a shack where a little girl was waiting for her mom.  He saw her moving and tried to save her but was shot in the leg. Once Eddie recovered he most likely never thought of the situation again but the little girl was burned to death.

Throughout the story we see examples of how lives intertwine, how “there are no random acts,” and how “we are all connected.” 

The Effect of Life

       In the book, Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie meets the Blue Man. The Blue Man says, "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." What the Blue Man means is that every life is connected and every action is tied to everyone. Even though each person is unique in beliefs, personality, and opinions, we all are linked to each other one way or another at one point. 

       As a young child, Eddie, plays ball in the street. The ball rolls out onto the road and is almost ran over by a car. Eddie goes back to his game and goes back to his life. However, from the point of view of the driver; he is driving in his car when suddenly a small child runs out and he must slam on his brakes. This makes the driver have a heart attack and he dies that day. Eddie running onto the road costed another mans life. Just like how he saved the little girls life at the pier not knowing that his fate was death later on. 

      If we take this idea into consideration, this means that no life is meaningless and we all effect each and everyone of us. That there's no such thing as a coincidence. The effect of life on others is enormous and should be taken into careful thought.

one big sea of lives

 
   At some point in our lives, we've crossed paths with another person, and changed their lives forever. We may not know it, and to be honest, they probably didn't realize it either, but it did happen. It happens with everyone. Truth be told, we are all connected. We are one big sea of lives, just jellyfish entertwining with one another, never actually knowing where we are going or who we are effecting. As said by William James, "We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep." In simplier terms, everyone's life has a purpose, and that purpose is to change someone else's life.  
  In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the storyline really expresses the general idea that everyone matters and has a purpose for being placed on earth. That's what this story truly meant to me. It opened my eyes to the fact that everyone who has crossed my path was there for a reason. Everyone in my past, present, and future is placed here for a specific purpose. That purpose may be unknown now, but at some point it will all be explained and make since. An example of this was Eddie's job as a maintance man at Ruby Pier. In a conversation between Eddie and Tala at the end of the story it stated, " 'Fixing rides? That was my existence?' He blew a deep breathe. 'Why?' She tilted her head, as if it were obvious. 'Children,' she said. 'You keep them safe. You make good for me.' " As you can see, Eddie didn't know why he was ever created, placed on earth. But in the end his purpose all along had been to save children, and he never realized how much he was actually needed in the world.
  Sometimes in life, our purpose may not even be much. Sometimes, it could just be saving someone else from death itself. As shown by the "Blue Man'' in Eddie's first lesson when he reached heaven, " 'You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens everyday. When lightening strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all.' '' The Blue Man's reasoning for dying was to save Eddie and allow Eddie the chance to forfill his purpose.
  To sum it all up, "We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep." Your choices in life are all apart of a bigger picture. And that picture is your purpose. Your purpose to tell someone else their purpose, to save their life, to help them through hard times, to change them in unremarkable ways, anything and everything. You matter, to anyone and everyone. We are all connected in this one big web. Impacting and changing things as we go. Helping and saving along the way. You matter. You have a purpose to change someone else's life. We are connected. We are one big sea of lives.

Everything Happens For a Reason

                     In the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie goes through life and death experiences. He meets people that have had an impact on his life in someway. These people teach Eddie a lesson that he uses to finally find closure. The first person Eddie meets is the Blue Man. He tells Eddie "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind." This goes along with almost everything that happened in Eddie's life. I agree with the him in some sense that we are all connected and that others can affect our lives in many ways. I feel like even a stranger could affect your entire life in just a matter of seconds. My life has probably been changed in some ways today. Eddie's life was taken from him because of another persons actions. Even though the actions aren't intentional someones life could be changed forever and sometimes not as much. In the end all of Eddie's misfortune was forgotten and Eddie forgave everything. Why do things happen out of the blue? Maybe we need to enjoy the moment while its still good. One day everything will change and never be the same again.

Faith and Fate

    Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Fate is the supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events. If you believe in fate, then you believe everything happens for a reason. That reason can be different for everyone. I do believe in fate, and my faith in God allows me to believe that He is controlling our fate.

    In the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the author uses the main character to show how people's fate is all connected in some way. When Eddie dies he meets five people in heaven whose deaths were all related to him in some way. For instance, when Eddie was a child he was almost hit by a car. The driver of the car swerved to miss Eddie, but then he got in a wreck and died. Throughout the book, the story of all the characters shows that many other lives are affected by every event in our lives. The Blue Man tries to explain this when he says, "That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed."

    This book made me think about my own faith. The author writes about heaven being a place you go where your life is explained to you by five people that were in it. In the Epilogue the author states that the secret of heaven is “that each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.” I think that if you feel this is true, you would almost have to believe that there is some greater power guiding our stories. At times Eddie did not have faith in himself or anything else. He even admitted that some of his life he’d spent hiding from God. Maybe God still had faith in Eddie though, and helped to shape his fate.

    “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” The quote listed above is from The Five People You Meet in Heaven. This quote really made me think about fate and faith. I think the author is trying to explain that everything happens for a reason. Even when you are not affected by an event, someone else is. I do strongly believe that this is true. Some people may think their fate is controlled by luck or chance or other things. I believe that God is somehow in control of our fate. He is watching out for everyone and that is how our lives are all connected.

Ripples In Heaven

                Dahlia Lama once said, “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” Without realizing, Eddie changed each of the five peoples lives that he meets in heaven. Joseph Corvelzchik also known as the Blue Man said, “That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.” Every person you meet either changes your life or theirs.

                Just because you’ve never met somebody does not mean you did not alter their life. Eddie never met the Blue Man or Tala, however their lives changed because of him. Eddie and his friends were playing ball when it rolled out on the street so he went to go get the baseball, meanwhile the Blue Man swerved out the way, missing Eddie, but crashing into a parked car and dying. The author wrote, “…one angle ends happily, at an arcade… and the other ends badly, in a city morgue…” Now take Eddie grown up and at war, kidnapped by the enemy, worked and held in a coal mine for nearly half a year. Finally escaping from captivity, decides to burn down the enemy’s supply huts and coal mines. On the other  hand we have a child named Tala who’s mom told her the hut would keep her safe. Eddie ended up killing the little girl but escaped the prison camp.

 You do not have to have a conversation with someone to influence their lives. By doing everyday things you could impact a life tremendously.