Have you ever noticed that people are much better at putting up with things that happen to them, than they are at living with the consequences of a bad choice?
It’s so much easier to blame bad luck or the economy for problems with money or for your dead end job, than it is to admit that YOU chose to live too ‘high on the hog’ when the future looked bright — or that YOU chose to jack around and not complete college to obtain a degree that would’ve allowed you to work someplace else. Who wants to claim responsibility when it’s so much easier to blame things that are simply out of our control?
I’ve absolutely made my share of bad choices. I still make some pretty hideous ones. I own those choices — therefore, I must also own the consequences that accompany them. Life is a struggle. Isn’t it?
My Mother was fond of saying, “you made your bed, now you have to lie in it.” Growing up, I translated that to, “Shelley, you are so screwed.” As I’ve grown older (and hopefully a little wiser), I understand it to mean that when we make choices, we then are responsible for the consequences and responsibilities that those choices bring. I’m not sure how that concept didn’t make it to the next generation…