There are millions of strings attached to every decision you make. One decision you make today could dramatically alter the trajectory of your life. You could ruin your life. You could save it, or someone else’s. The outcome of your decision may not be known for years, or ever. And even then there would be no way of tracing that string back to it’s source. This could happen even with the most mundane of scenarios.
A co-worker slights you today with a little comment. Do you _____? :
…
String 1) Laugh it off.
OR
String 2) Stand up for yourself.
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String 1. This instills in the co-worker a pattern of disrespect towards you. You go into work everyday for months, with more and more build up of resentment. Eventually, the thought of going to work makes you anxious and angry. You finally admit to yourself, “DAVE IS A FUCKING DOUCHEBAG.” But to say something now would be uncomfortable …it’s been happening too long. He throws jabs at you every opportunity he gets. You can’t avoid him. You are stressed. You start losing your hair. You hate your life. You quit your job in the corporate world to instead hide in the safety of your home. After years of this reclusion and unpaid mortgage bills, the bank repossesses your home and you get thrown to the streets. You spend your final months begging for spare change on street corners. You die of tuberculosis.
String 2. You address the comment right away.
“Dave, fuck off. Unlike you, I have respect for myself. Please never speak to me ever again.”
No more Dave in your life. You start going to work confidently. Peers notice this. Your boss notices this. You get put up for promotion. You realize fear is merely a voice that controls the weak. You feel liberated. You start pursuing every unabashed desire of your heart. You have unprotected sex with a hooker. You snort cocaine. You get that sexual reassignment surgery. Your name is now Lydia. You rise to the top of the corporate ladder. You hold your power over people. On your death bed, you realize that you’re gonna die alone, but you laugh like a maniac while you think about all your money.
Which above outcome is better?
That question is irrelevant. Everything is everything.
The earth will spin for eons and eons. You are conscious for a micro-fraction of a second.
The only ‘tragedy’ in all of this is that most people will spend a majority of that time in regret: coveting, reflecting in vain, wasting away, fixated on a given decision after the fact, “what if I had followed the other string?”
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…>>>
You make millions of decisions throughout your life, each one has potential to create a million alternate realities. You get exactly ONE chance to play it all out. Embrace that. Wake up tomorrow as an active participant in your existence. Make a decision, follow that string fervently, and do not second guess!
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.According to WordPress.com statistics, this post has been edited 18 times since it’s initial publish at 7pm on 10/29/2015. The author has gone back and agonized over numerous word choices. The author has also second guessed if the message is coherent, and is terrified that the audience could find it politically incorrect, preachy, or uninteresting. The following search results were pulled from the author’s browser history on Google.com:
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