His Point of View

“What you know cannot really hurt you” That is a quote from a book I started reading this morning. The strange things is that I was trying to write this post last night but I tossed it in the recycle bin as I lost interest half way through writing it. I was surprised to open a new book to be greeted on page xx(page 20) of the prologue by almost the same words I wrote last night. I suppose that means I need to finish composing my thoughts on this subject.

The post I was attempting to write last night was about how the course of one’s life can and does change unexpectedly. I would bet that if you think about the series of events that brought you to your current position in life you would have only a handful of critical decisions or a handful of days that  didn’t unfold as planned, for better or worse. Most of the things we plan tend to fade into obscurity and those things can kind of blend together into one homogeneous memory soup. The events that really have an impact on your future are the events that you don’t see coming.  The way we handle the unforeseen events tests our true composition.  The way we react when we are backed into a corner or we have to take advantage of a situation without the luxury of pondering the outcome paints a clear picture of our character.   If you know something is going to happen you have the ability to plan for it, or consider the options you have available to minimize the potential damage. The split second decisions and the events that occur without granting you the ability to react can have a long lasting impact on your life.

Often I think people are not paying attention to opportunities cast before them which could have a drastic impact on their lives. I have seen people practically ignore opportunities that others would kill for. You have to be aware of the unpredictable nature of opportunities in order to have the clarity of mind to identify and seize such opportunities. Just the same, a disaster can often be seen coming from a mile away, but we still walk directly in its path. Just as opportunities can be missed, disasters can be invited if we are not conscious of our surroundings.

Everything we do today has some impact on our future, and possibly the future of those close to us. If you are truly living life, you should not know what’s going to happen next. You are not learning if you never encounter unexpected challenges. You are not growing if you accept the path of least resistance instead of attempting to execute the best resolution of the situation at hand.