Action and Consequence - clipperfan811's Blog

clipperfan811's Blog

Action and Consequence

Posted on September 13, 2011 at 02:14 PM.

I was speaking to a gentleman today who is in his 60's and it dawned on me that he had no grasp of action and consequence. It got me wondering, what percentage of people go through their entire life without that epiphany moment were truly understand the concept.

Since I feel that one of life's primary tasks is to pass on your knowledge and wisdom to future generations; I've decided to urge anyone who takes the time to read this to ingrain this concept into anyone they can, primarily younger kids.

One of life's simple truths is that actions result in consequence.

Consequence is often associated to a negative result but that's a false assessment. Actions can result in either positive and negative consequences or sometimes both. It's extremely important to have a firm grasp on the possible consequences of your actions in order to make sound decisions throughout life.

With so many uncontrollable circumstances wreaking havoc on life, understanding the likely outcomes of our actions is a vital skill.

Take as en example: A child does something they're not supposed to do and they're caught. When confronted by the parental figure, the child is genuinely surprised by the confrontation.

What does this show?

The child didn't understand what consequences might result from their actions.

Understanding is only half the battle.

Often what seems like a lack of understanding is really a lack of respect. As an example: A child does something they're not supposed to do and they're caught. When confronted by the parental figure the child denies the action.

What does this show?

The child is aware that their action will result in a negative consequence and therefore denies the action all together. The problem is the child didn't have enough respect for the consequences to alter their action. They understood that their would be a negative consequence but they decided to do it anyways.

Accountability

Perhaps the most important component in this is the willingness to deal with the consequences of your actions. If you understand what consequences might result from your actions and are willing to deal with them, then you have the right to follow through with your actions.

The rightness or wrongness of the actions or consequences is out of the scope of the concept of action and consequence.

For the majority of another person's personal lifestyle decisions, I have no vested interest one way or another (mortally impactful decisions excluded). What I do like to see is people being accountable (to themselves) for their actions.
Meaning that if they're ok with their consequences than I respect their right to make the decisions regarding their actions.

Degrees of consequence

Often our actions span various short term and long term consequences. Lets take as an example:

A person is a thief, they are aware of the consequences of stealing and have a certain amount of respect for those consequences so they only steal what might be considered petty theft but not something that might be considered grand theft. In other words, they're willing to deal with a slap on the wrist punishment if they get caught but avoid the whip.

I just said that I respect a person's right to choose their actions if they're willing to accept the punishment. So how would someone handle a relationship with a person such as this?

The shoe is now on the other foot because now the actions under scrutiny are now mine not the thief's. My choice is whether to maintain the relationship or to cut ties.

Consequences of maintaining the relationship

- having the person steal my stuff

- Perhaps being blamed as an accomplice if they steal something while I'm present.

+ The emotional satisfaction of a long term friendship.

+ Knowing a guy who knows how to get stuff on the cheap.

Consequences to cutting ties with the person

- The loss of an old friend or possibly mutual friends that now cut ties with you.

+ Peace of mind by ridding yourself of an untrustworthy person.

+ The preservation of not having a criminal record.

The degrees of consequence are sometimes infinite so sometimes you really need to sit and think a few steps ahead to best calculate how some actions might affect you. Using sound logic and taking the time to apply it can really help make your life just that much easier in the long run.

Obviously really young children might not grasp the full extent of how consequences affect them but it's important that they begin to understand how they have a great deal of control over the consequences they'll eventually have to deal with.