I've been thinking lately about our actions and the consequences they bring. I am as guilty as most of opening my big mouth and saying exactly what I think but lately I have been more introspective and it occurs to me that the reactions caused by what we say or do can be so much bigger than we think.
This can be illustrated on a global scale. If we give up a right today (for example, privacy) because it makes us feel safer for the moment, does that mean we set an example of erosion that means our grandchildren will be living in a world without the freedoms we all enjoy?
But what I am really pondering is how our actions can cause problems in the small things in life. We go to McDonald's and encounter a cashier who is having a bad day and messes up everything from the order to the change so we complain to the manager. After we leave, she gets fired...and a chain of events starts.
We go to a store and have an unpleasant experience so we go to Yelp and post a scathing review and the next time we walk by that store, it is shuttered and dark.
I'm not saying one complaint or one action is the direct cause but the negativity we put into the world certainly adds up. And maybe our complaint was the tipping point.
I am trying to remember that we all have bad days. I wonder if we say to that cashier "take a deep breath, I'm in no rush." and offered a smile, things would end differently. Or at that store say "I'm not happy with this, how can we work together to reach a conclusion that makes us all happy."
Or maybe, just maybe, take some personal stock and realize it isn't the other person having a bad day...but you.
If we could all remember that freedom of speech is not freedom from consequence, would the world be a more positive place?
This can be illustrated on a global scale. If we give up a right today (for example, privacy) because it makes us feel safer for the moment, does that mean we set an example of erosion that means our grandchildren will be living in a world without the freedoms we all enjoy?
But what I am really pondering is how our actions can cause problems in the small things in life. We go to McDonald's and encounter a cashier who is having a bad day and messes up everything from the order to the change so we complain to the manager. After we leave, she gets fired...and a chain of events starts.
We go to a store and have an unpleasant experience so we go to Yelp and post a scathing review and the next time we walk by that store, it is shuttered and dark.
I'm not saying one complaint or one action is the direct cause but the negativity we put into the world certainly adds up. And maybe our complaint was the tipping point.
I am trying to remember that we all have bad days. I wonder if we say to that cashier "take a deep breath, I'm in no rush." and offered a smile, things would end differently. Or at that store say "I'm not happy with this, how can we work together to reach a conclusion that makes us all happy."
Or maybe, just maybe, take some personal stock and realize it isn't the other person having a bad day...but you.
If we could all remember that freedom of speech is not freedom from consequence, would the world be a more positive place?
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