If the sequester threat in Washington does nothing else, it reminds us that the future always comes. Some of us will not be here in the future when it does come, but it always comes. As a country, we have an addiction to putting things off so we don’t have to worry about them today. That addiction creates a breeding ground for cancers that can be painful and impossible to cure.
What we need to be aware of is that the future always comes. That’s important to us in our day-to-day life in the same way it’s important to the country. An extra cookie a day adds pounds to your weight year by year. Ignoring your health when you’re young can cost you years of your life. Credit card interest can steal your ability to function financially in the future. The list goes on and on. The life you live today will shape your life in the future.
Often, we make decisions today without giving full consideration of the possible ramifications in the future. Other times, we’re aware that the risk exists, but simply put it off to the future. We sit down at the table of life and eat the dessert first hoping we won’t have to eat our vegetables. Sometimes, we don’t have to eat the vegetables, and that makes the decision to eat the dessert first the next time that much easier.
I’ve never liked going to casinos. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt like I had the money to lose, and the pain of losing was always greater to me than the joy of winning. I figure the worst thing that could ever happen to me is that I win big. I’m afraid that once I won big, I’d ignore the risk that was inherent in the gamble. There, I believe, is the problem: making decisions without a true acknowledgment of the possible risks related to the decision.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking risks. Risks are a part of life. No one has done great things without taking some risk. The only risks we should truly regret are those risks that are taken without full consideration of the possible effect on the future.
Ultimately, if we have considered the risks and accepted the possible outcomes of our decisions, we should accept the results and do the best we can with them. I guess, in all actuality, we need to accept the results of our actions and do the best we can with them regardless of the amount of thought put into the decisions that led to them.
By the time this prints, we’ll know how our national leaders dealt with the results of their punt to the future 18 months ago. It seems that most of them thought we would never get to this point, but here we are, and all we can do is deal with it the best way we can.
The way our country deals with adversity says a lot about who we are as a nation and a lot about where we are going. That’s true, not just for the country, but for those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com