Cause & Effect

Posted on | November 20, 2008 | No Comments

Cause & Effect

Sometimes we can make the connections between causes and effects, but many times we can’t. You’ve heard of the “law of unforeseen consequences” which is one way of looking at this principle. The law of unforeseen consequences works in the context of knowing the cause, but not being able to predict all the results, which is true enough, but is only half the story. We learn from mistakes, and if we’re in a bad situation, or one that at least feels bad at the moment, then we try to figure out the cause so we can avoid the casual action in the future and hopefully avoid repeating the mistake. Seems logical, and it is. The cool thing about the principle of cause and effect is that it reminds you to look both ways – toward the effect before taking action, and back toward the cause when experiencing a positive or negative effect. But there’s more.

The principle states that even though there IS at least one cause for every effect and at least one effect coming after every action, we can’t always identify the link. We’re human and as such we can’t possibly understand all the links. Sounds like chaos theory doesn’t it? You’ve heard of “the butterfly effect” when the movement of a butterfly’s wings in Asia causes a thunderstorm on the other side of the world. That’s this principle in action.

We can’t know everything that’s going to happen, and hind-sight is NOT always 20/20. When we understand that, we can forgive ourselves for past “mistakes” and we can remove the fear of moving forward. There are definitely going to be unforeseen consequence to every action because those actions can’t happen in a vacuum. We are all connected and the unforeseen consequences of are actions are the substance of a life being LIVED. Sure, learn what you can from your successes and failures. But, recognize and  embrace the unforeseen consequences of cause and effect in your life, because they prove life is not pre-determined and that as a human you have the spark of divinity that manifests as free will.

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