We learn something from everything we do and have done from birth. Most of us don’t learn from other people’s mistakes…because details of everyone’s circumstances are different? Because what works for one person may not work for someone else? Because interpretation of right and wrong, good and bad are different for each person? Challenges are construed differently depending on your storybook.
Decisions we make can be as simple as clicking on a well-worded link on the Internet. it can bring enlightenment or spam that will haunt forever. There is no geek squad to save us from our bad decisions. Somehow we get through it….and we learn another life lesson…..how we channel that lesson, good or bad, is a direct result of our past experiences.
I’ve been known to bemoan the fact that some people make stupid mistakes over and over again. What is wrong when someone continues to dig themselves in deeper and deeper in muck. They can’t get out, they can’t figure out what they are doing wrong. How does it look thru their eyes. Do they see themselves as being buried because of circumstances beyond their control or bad luck or are they simply happy in their circumstances and don’t recognize things could be different? The most important question is…who am I to judge another’s life?
My new strategy or thinking process is directing me to continue on my path…I will listen to what other say….really listen…if I find it is the wrong path, I can turn around…mark the path with a flag and be on my way. I may come to the same crossroad again…and this time it may be the right path to choose. Things change, life continues to evolve and only I am responsible for the decisions I make…..and the consequences of those decisions are mine to own.
Until next time….
Ninasusan 
I think you are a Libertarian then. Seriously. You are transforming. Welcome to the club.
I have to call the asphalt people now and order the paint. I will let you know when the portrait is done.
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I’ll be up there June 9 for a week for the kidney…if it gets done by then, I’ll be over for pictures. You inspired the argument ice Nina for a few minutes….it was fun! But I really would have appreciated one more round after the inference to your hair color.
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Just think how much fun this could be if we were together and as the discussion proceeds I could watch your face flame to the color of your hair….ahem…the old color
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What if instead of the naked portrait, I paint racist, sexist rants? or the dreaded ‘hate speech’? Should I be tolerated in spite of my intolerance of others?
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Part of the “owning your decisions” comes with owning the consequences of your decisions…..so, yes! Unless it would be deemed a crime or hate crime..my general answer is yes!
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It’s true. Only you are responsible for the decisions you make, but it also makes you responsible for how those decisions effect others in your life and environment.
If I decide to pave the front lawn with white asphalt and then paint a giant naked portrait of myself on it like it was a giant canvass, that is going to offend and piss off a lot of people like relatives, people that drive by, people at church that “thought” they knew me. Heck, it might even be illegal.
There are also the people that tell you, “I am what I am. God made me this way. I cannot stop doing these things because – bad brain chemistry, bad genes, bad environment, bad parenting, blah, blah blah. They are willing to pass the buck and continue living in misery because it’s too hard to change, to take charge, to not do the self destructive stuff. Some people just have a death wish. Others want to live fast, die young and leave a good lookin corpse. When I was 22, that’s what I wanted to do. I did not believe I would live past 30…but I did.
If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. That way, the portrait of myself on the front yard asphalt might look pretty good even today. But I digress. We reap what we sow, but we also reap bad decisions made by others and that list is very long and usually results in more taxes among other things. What we do matters because of how it will effect others. Our rights to self determination end where the rights of others begin.
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I understand what u are saying…but we each have freedom to make our own decisions and how it impacts others is there choice…against the law not included…when you put the naked canvass down, those who don’t like it have that right to not like it but it is their decision how to process it..not yours. They can tell you they don’t like it…it’s back in your court…then based on your decision…they can further their disgust or live with it or stop driving by your driveway. Thus becomes their deal…not yours!
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