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Arthur,
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If I had changed anything, would I be who I am today? At what point do you stop changing things? Who would I hurt if I changed something?
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Regarding changes, those are some profound questions, imponderable I think. I've often reflected that if you carry a thought to the absolute essence of it, you are likely to find some unintended results.
You are touching here on paradox, in the physical sense. The butterfly effect, if you will. What happens if you return to a point in time and make a tiny change? That change ripples out exponentially and all future for everyone is changed.
Is that necessarily bad? Who could possibly know? Maybe if that young man I mentioned in an earlier post had taken time to hug his mom, the wave would have been coming in instead of going out when he made his fateful dive. Maybe his life would have been infinitely less challenging, and the thousands of people who have heard his story wouldn't have had their lives positively impacted thereby.
Truly, though, that butterfly effect is happening all the time, and you can't know what impact your decisions and actions are having on everyone even as you make them.
What happens if my words in this forum or elsewhere strike a negative chord with someone and she allows it to put her in a bad mood? Consequently, she speaks sharply to her spouse, who then drives unmindfully, mulling over the unjust attack? Could the spouse have an auto accident? If so, would it have been I who hurt him and the occupants of the other car? What if someone were killed and as a result his child grew up fatherless and directionless and turned to a life of crime? Am I responsible for that? Should I stop posting and accept what I have always had (a rather uneventful life with very modest means), rather than risk any of that?
I've learned that I'm responsible to create my life the way I want it. Hopefully that will have a positive effect on those around me, as my intention toward others is benign. However, I don't and can't know the ultimate manifestation for someone even two degrees removed from me, much less the billions with whom I share this physical planet.
Going back to the original concept of doing the remarkable, obviously changes that are being spoken of here are those affecting the future. Changes in attitude, changes in habit, that are meant to create better outcomes for the individual making the changes than previous attitudes and habits have done.
As always, thank you for your post. Your impact on me is to induce me to think beneath and beyond the surface. For that I am grateful. My brain cells need the exercise. :-)
Cheri
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