Truth In Consequences
Truth is hard to find. For some, it’s impossible.
If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.
Truth In Consequences
Start your journey with questions. Always start with questions. The assumption here is there’s already a baseline belief system and structure. If there isn’t a baseline belief system and structure in place for you, start with that. For everybody else, start with questions. Question everything. Ask questions where they’re necessary. Ask questions when you have them. Ask questions just for fun, who cares? Do this so you get comfortable enough to ask questions when they’re vitally important. Do this so you gain the experience and the skill to ask the right question during crucial periods of your life.
Ask questions of yourself. Ask questions of me. Ask questions of the leaders, the experts, and the dimwits. Ask questions of God. Ask questions of your spouse and your children. Just ask questions. Ignore those who don’t want you to, they aren’t you and cannot possibly know better than you will what you need, assuming you have been asking questions as instructed.
People lying to you will not want you asking questions. People going along with the crowd or with a narrative don’t want you asking them questions. They cannot answer them, after all. Not with anything substantial. Ask. Damn. Questions.
Do it early and do it often. There are experts in varying disciplines but you are the best source for information about you. Yet, that only applies if you ask questions.
Truth is hard to find. For some, it’s impossible. For you, assuming questions have been asked, truth is within reach. You will only find it when you question ceaselessly. We often believe we have the truth prior to asking questions, but then we find we never really understood what truth was once questions have begun. Ask questions.
Who is qualified to talk about specific topics? That’s a dumb question, Dad. Obviously the experts. Also, everybody else. Ever. Because it’s speech. If you have an opinion, feel free to share it.
That doesn’t mean you’ll be free from any consequences. Consequences are everywhere and they are legion. They’re ubiquitous and they are infinite.
You won’t suffer them all. There isn’t a limit to possible consequences, so to suffer them all you’d have to be eternal and even then they won’t end. Take solace in that thought. It’s impossible to suffer every consequence.
But you’re going to run into some.
Another side of this convoluted coin deals in what consequences are. Consequences aren’t inherently punishments or negative results of a given decision or lack of decision. Consequences are results, and just results. I find it odd that we have attached a negative connotation to consequence. Good decisions are the consequence, for instance, of forethought. That doesn’t seem bad to me.
Be choosy with your consequences. Admittedly you can’t choose what happens. That’s not how life works. Will there be times you can sway the probability matrix into your favor in a way that will all but guarantee a certain outcome? Sure, why not. But don’t count on it. If the opportunity presents itself and you can capitalize, pull the trigger. But be careful you do so on the up and up. Consequences don’t always make themselves apparent right away and many happen well down the line.
One thing you should do, however, is try and stack the odds in your favor through time. This is easier said than done, much like rocket surgery, but it’s possible. Before you do so it is vital to understand why and what makes it possible.
We are more than one person. This sounds odd, but that can be true in several ways, but we’ll stick to one for now. As an individual, it is understandable to assume you’re a singular person. However, you’re a community. It isn’t a community as such, as understood by the definition generally used and interpreted.
Instead you’re a community through time. Who you are today isn’t who you will be tomorrow. You will be one day older and, God willing, one day better. Time is an odd concept if you stop and think about it beyond any superficial understanding of it. In a week you’ll be in a different place in your life, understand things slightly different than you do now, and simultaneously possess more and less of certain things than you currently do.
Additionally, what you choose to do today will affect that community going forward. So make good decisions. Set tomorrow you up for success by doing what you should today and avoiding what you shouldn’t be doing.
Now that we completely understand time and space (ha!) we can continue. If you make what appear to be good decisions today, ones that will benefit tomorrow you, or two weeks from now you, then you are already taking steps to stack the odds in your favor later. Those odds will assist in facing good consequences instead of bad when taking an action.
You can be confident this is true by trying it yourself. You can also keep reading and I’ll explain it a bit more. Your choice.
When we make a decision, we’re committing to a goal. They may be mini-goals, micro-goals, medium-sized-goals, field goals, whatever they’re perceived as, it doesn’t matter. They’re goals. And moving towards that goal post decision making initiates the reward system we’re wired with. That reward system also begins to instantiate habits and to bias you towards that type of action in the future.
This means if you start to consistently perform good actions, actions that are beneficial for future you, then you will lean towards doing that in the future as well. Brains can be wonderful, but only if you are intentional in how you live. Intentionally do what you know you should and it will start helping you do it with less effort and more reward.
Unfortunately this is also true in the inverse. Do bad shit, get bad shit. So don’t do bad shit. Stack the consequence odds in your favor by making good decisions.
This is also pertinent when deciding whether you should tell the truth or lie. Whether you should live honestly or dishonestly. You will habituate one or the other, there isn’t middle ground here. Help yourself out in the future by making the decision now, by being intentional now in your dedication to being honest in what you do and what you say. Don’t wait, waiting is for cowards and prudent individuals. In this case waiting is not prudent, so that would make you a coward and that’s not the path for you. You are not a coward, you are a capable human being and a wonderful one at that. Be who you are, capable and amazing. Take action, avoid inaction, get done what you must and live.
In acting now you don’t have to worry later whether that house of lies is going to come crashing down. It’s easier to accept consequences when your house is made of bricks, not shit. It’s far less likely to fall over when things change. Don’t you worry, we will tackle honesty and lying in depth later in this book. To prepare, start practicing being honest with yourself. If you catch yourself thinking or saying an untruth, stop. That’s all.
For now, anyway.
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