Every decision comes with a cost. And certainly it’s wise to count these costs as best as we can beforehand. But, either way, we must learn to live with the consequences of the decisions we make. This frees us from the blame game and empowers us to continue making informed decisions on our path forward.
To be sure, kids can pretend to do all sorts of things in their fantasy world of play. And generally there are no serious consequences afterwards. But this is not how reality works. There are no reset buttons or do-overs that can completely wipe out the impact of the choices we make.
For instance, speaking up might rock the boat and disrupt a delicate relational balance, while remaining quiet might cause bitterness and resentment to slowly choke us out. Saying yes to an opportunity might open meaningful doors of connection or simply add stress to our life, while saying no might provide an inner peace or block an opportunity to increase our impact for good.
Whatever it looks like, the decision comes with cost and consequences. And while gratitude might be the natural result when things go well, occasionally we might find ourselves disappointed with a particular outcome. But, in any case, we must learn to accept the outcomes we “bought,” even if unintentional. We get what we ask for, and once we’ve made our bed, we now have to lie in it.
This is not a point of shame or false guilt. Often we make the best choices we can at the moment. But it’s still a point of responsibility. We cannot blame others for reaping the natural consequences of the choices we’ve made. And, in accepting responsibility, this now becomes a lesson learned, which hopefully makes us wiser moving forward.
In the end, humbly accept the natural consequences of your decisions rather than playing the blame game. This allows you to grow in wisdom and discernment as you count the cost of future decisions.
Photo by Micael Sáez on Unsplash
