I saw a quote yesterday attributed to an author, Stephen Covey: “We Are Free To Choose Our Actions…But Note Free To Choose The Consequences Of These Actions.”
This line has applications/relevancy to many areas of our lives such as:
- We choose to invest our hard-earned money into certain investments but whether these investments tank or make us lots of $$$ is a consequence of our choice that we often cannot control
- We choose certain professions to go into but the consequences of these career pathways are often out of our control.
- We choose a certain person to be our spouse/significant other but the consequences of this decision are often seen years later and not necessarily what we envisioned.
Clearly opting for a certain lifestyle, such as how we eat, what/how much we drink, whether exercise is included into our schedules and other “choices” we make in our behavioral patterns impact our health. Yes, hormonal/chemical factors play a role in the “choices” we make in our daily food intake. However, when it comes down to it, no one is forcing high carb/high caloric foods and/or alcohol down our throats. These are choices we individually make for ourselves.
However the “consequences” of these “choices” are not chosen by us: Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, chronic pain, cancer and a bunch of other co-morbidities of poor weight control.
As parents, many of us (including me) have pointed out to our children that “actions have consequences”, as perhaps their poor behavior resulted in us taking away their favorite items for awhile, placing them in some sort of “grounded” status etc.
The point: Take control of your eating/drinking behaviors because YOU can choose this healthier/happier pathway. By not doing so, you may not have control of the consequences…and these could unfortunately be life-altering.
And here is an out of the box song for me to post…The Punk Group Clash performing their song about “Choice”: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”
