... is a phrase my dad would occasionally bring up when me or my siblings would experience the ‘natural consequences of our actions’, but were slow to take personal responsibility for our choices involved. Since, when you are more fully cognizant of this, you begin to better appreciate the Law of Cause and Effect, the cause-and-effect chain, the stimulus-response domino effect of how the past influences the future. The degree of what you own up to ‘in the now’ establishes your learning parameters. In other words, learning life’s lessons.
Ideally, good effects reinforce the good choices you made and poor choices result in the negative reinforcement needed to diminish future similar choices (that is, if one has learned from them).
Other expressions that are helpful:
> Everybody pays the piper sooner or later (karma).
> You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
> If you don’t change direction, you’ll wind up where you’re headed.
> Life is easier when you plow around the stumps [Note: Do remember to work on clearing them between growing seasons, and plant nuts from special trees where you want windbreaks and wildlife to thrive for your descendants to enjoy. In other words, self-improvement is an ongoing process.]
Do take the time to self monitor occasionally and ask yourself, “What will happen if....” as based upon past learning experiences and observations of the experiences of others. Be not overly harsh with yourself or others. Allow yourself to appreciate the irony and the entertainment value in what you observe about yourself and others.
For example:
> when the headlines are about people testing positive for Covid who have heckled those of us who value the use of face masks, I think, “Hmmm, what did they think would happen...”
> what do we think will happen if we don’t control our borders and pass ‘Medicare for all’ at the same time...
> what do we think will happen if we don’t mitigate global warming...
> when Katrina swamped New Orleans and interviews of those flooded out revealed that many did not realize they were living ‘below sea level’, I asked myself, “Why didn’t they know?” Then I ask myself what is it in life that I don’t know, and “why don’t I know”?
Related reading:
https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/life/the-importance-of-self-responsibility/#
Humor:
https://images.app.goo.gl/cb9rXRWfLB987pK28
