Someone has observed that we are always free to choose, but we’re not free to choose the consequences of our choices.
We see proof of this principle in Washington and on Wall Street. The present state of the economy is the consequence of many years of bad fiscal choices. Recovery will depend on better choices.
Young people also demonstrate the accuracy of this same concept. Unfortunately, though they are free to sow wild oats, they have no choice regarding the crop with which they’ll have to live. That's scary!
With respect to choices, they lack the wisdom of age which enables one to see the end from the beginning. Experiences, both our own and those shared by others, create this wisdom.
Presently, my concern is with how our choices impact various areas of our lives. What choices do we make that might yield unexpected and undesirable consequences?
I often jest that my career plan is to give my last speech after my 140th birthday, step off the stage and drop dead of a heart attack. I enjoy speaking so that much that I want to continue speaking as long as health permits.
However, even if my goal were realistic, an abundance of Blue Bell ice cream would likely keep me from reaching it. It is understood that no one is stopping me from choosing to eat as much ice cream as I want (and I want a lot). It is also understand that no one would stop the consequences from occurring, either.
I was close to a good man who indelibly stamped the validity of what I just said on my mind. After retirement he chose not to exercise, and then to eat whatever he wanted in the amounts he wanted. He figured the doctor had a pill to fix everything. He figured wrong! The result cost him his life.
But health is not the only area where we can make poor choices. Many misuse their minds. The Internet is one means for such.
How we use the web is our choice. What we subsequently become by its proper use or its misuse is a result that is out of our hands. Too many forget that good people are the products of good thoughts.
Similarly, we can't expect to sow nothing in our minds and reap something in our lives. In other words, it's not enough that one not misuse the mind. We must choose to use it.
Baseball great Satchel Paige said: "Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.” He said sometimes he “just sits.”
It’s amazing the number of folks who “just sits” so much of the time - in doctors’ offices, airports, restaurants and even barbershops. Or, perhaps they’re not just sitting but are on their favorite DTW.
"What's a DTW?" you ask. That stands for "designated time waster." In various meetings the DTW would be the person who is designated to speak, but who wastes everyone's time by having nothing to say or by saying it very poorly. In our daily lives the designated time wasters can be phones, social media or iPads. They can all serve very useful purposes (as can the Internet), but can also be mindless activities. Good reading or listening material, as well as stimulating conversation, is a choice with far greater benefits.
Who we spend most of our time with is also a choice. It, too, is a cause we cannot separate from effect. Many have ruined their chances for success because of the one they chose to marry. Others have done so because of their friends and mentors. Because we ultimately become the effect of what our associates and our brain food cause, it's so important that in both areas we make wise choices.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: If the effect is something we do not want, consider that it's likely the result of a cause we did want. Choose again! Choose wisely!
Copyright @ 2011 by Terry L. Sumerlin
Permission granted for reprint provided copyright notice, bio and website are included.
Terry L. Sumerlin is the author of "Leadership: It Takes More Than a Great Haircut!" and a conference speaker who travels nationally. www.barberosophy.com