Life tends to catch up with us.
We often make decisions in our youth which give no indication that there will be long term consequences. This comes about partly because of ignorance and partly because of the eternal optimism of youth.
This can happen in all areas of life, in our relationships, our health, our finances, our occupations, or our spiritual development. We are flawed beings because of this. Few of us have the wisdom throughout our lives to determine what is ultimately best for us. And if we did, would we have the fortitude or discipline to do the right thing. Most of us just learn to deal with the fallout.
We need not look any further than our own lives to see how this plays out, although it is more obvious and less painful to discern it in others. Who has not said at one time or another, "If only I could do that over again"?
None of us wants to live life with regrets, but it is inevitable that there will be some. We cannot live our lives over, but we can make new starts, even though the consequences of past decisions will always hang over out heads.
As an 'older and wiser' person now, I would love to dispense my wisdom among the young people I meet, but I am nagged by the memory of how it was when I was young. Part of youth and integral to the maturing process is making rash and rapid decisions, often resulting in mistakes, and ultimately that is how we all learn. It is the long term consequences that I would want to save them from. Not being able to see any further into the future than a year or two, most young people would say that it will just all work out. And, to a degree it does, if lessons are actually learned and acted on.
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