Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Life is a chess match. Every decision that you make has a consequence to it. P.K. Subban
Are we willing to ask the hard questions of ourselves, our family, society, and the world? What builds a good life, and do we have the right to judge the choices others make that don’t build a good life or a good society?
Last night, listening to a podcast, the speaker said his grandfather would tell young people, “I have nothing against you, it’s your lifestyle I don’t approve of.” Do we have the right to judge the actions of others? Do we have the right to believe that living certain ways, following certain principles, builds a better life?
When we see the choices we’ve made and how they’ve turned out, do we think that if we’d made better choices, we’d have a better life? Expecting ourselves and others to always make the best choice is unreasonable. To judge others harsher for their bad choices than we do ourselves is unfair. But are there principles that, if followed by anyone and everyone, will lead to a better life?
I’m not meaning there should be no diversity in how people live their lives. I am not for religious or other groups controlling the lives of their members. I am for personal responsibility to live good lives to build a good society for our children and grandchildren.
The family is the cornerstone of our society, and if we look around, we see where the breakdown of the family leads. The family helps us build a better life, provides more security for ourselves and our children, and gives our children a springboard to launch themselves.
Some studies show marriage is alive and well in the richest segments of our society, but becoming increasingly less common in poorer segments. Of course, some marriages should end, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a real price paid when they do.
A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. Tony Robbins
Who we choose to marry might be one of the biggest choices we make, and not getting married is also a choice. But, like a team of horses, two can do so much more than one. What if love gets us into marriage, and something else has to keep us in a marriage? The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but going for the greener grass always has a price.
One of the things we need to do in life is look at the price tag of our choices, and there is always a price. The highly successful person won’t be home much; the person always at home won’t make as much money. Life is about trade-offs; a trade-off that seemed great in our twenties might not look so good in later decades. We heard in our youth, “You make your bed, and you need to lie in it.”
Do too many of us think someone else is responsible for the state of our lives? Is it name your ism, but what of those who overcame their ism and built great lives, what does that say to those who haven’t? Their unlucky, or unblessed, life is unfair? Life is unfair; we don’t all start at the same place, but even if we start at the worst starting point, we can make choices that make our lives better or worse.
What if progress is more important than the end result? What choices can we make to improve our lives and maybe the lives of our children and grandchildren? Is considering the next generation one of the most important things we do, and where many mistakes have been made?
Are there unintended consequences for what we thought would be some of our best choices? Mistakes were made, and mistakes will always be made, but what can each of us do to make the best of the life we have and the society we leave to our children and grandchildren?
I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime. Elisabeth Kubler Ross
If you don’t make a decision then time will make it for you and time will always side against you. Billy Graham
The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice. George Eliot
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