You Choose This

Im in a rush. read your first few words and they were brimming with wisdom.......

Responsibility in thought, speech and action really is the gateway into true spirituality...

I can understand taking the blame for something when it really is your fault. I personally don't see how everything is our fault. For example having a nail end up in my tire isn't my fault unless I put the nail on the ground and ran over it on purpose. If I could avoid the nail in my tire, wouldn't I? Of course. Now I wouldn't blame someone for something unless it was done intentionally. This paradigm seems flawed. In my personal opinion why blame anyone? Some things just happen and that's it. If I was always blaming myself for everything, I'd really hate me. I love myself to much for that.

I think that if we take the blame for things that happen we will automatically come up with the conclusion that others are to blame for things. This makes for a very intolerant world where punishment is handed out.
Freewill is an interesting subject.
If it were proved that there is no freewill, could we call anyone a criminal any more. We all know that things that have happened to you or the training you have had make you who you are, also we have had to adjust to culture and society to fit in.
If we fit in well our teachers and trainers have done a good job. If we are not so fortunate we may not have learned the behaviors that are required to make the right choices.
Was it my choice to not know the right choices?
Is there a right choice and who is making it?

My neighbor was asking her 3 year old, 'did you do that? was that you?' The child looked confused and a bit scared. So i said ' he was probably there when it happened!'. The child was there but there are many circumstances around what had happened and it was felt by the child that to pin it all on him was too much and he is correct.

Although i agree with you on the "taking responsibility for one's actions" part,which is what i usually do,i must point out that since we live in a society and we interact with others we can't have control over everything,because the actions of others can have an affect on our lives.Can you be aware of everything 24/7?Are you going to be suspicious of everyone around you for the rest of your life,just to make sure that you will not be cheated or mistreated.

It's stupid to blame gods,demons,aliens,other people for every misfortune in your life,but it's anavoidable.

After reading the first post, I thought the OP was a bit angry and I could understand because I used to feel the same way. There are so many out there who refuse to "take responsibility" for where they are. But let me elaborate.

I can't agree that we "choose" the negative circumstances or things that happen to us, but they are a result of the previous actions in a way that lead us to that point / place where such thing would happen. But isn't that just chance and probability playing out? If it CAN happen... over a long enough time line it probably will. I think the point the OP is trying to say that there are people out there who, unless the ideal circumstances of their life are being met, just aren't going to be happy and accept the things they have or what happens to them without an excuse to rationalize why they don't have something or why something happened. Sometimes things just happen, but the hardest thing is to accept that it happened and just move on. There is always a cause to an effect. We can spend our whole lives working backwards and searching and explaining the cause to our misfortunes so we can rationalize it to ourselves and make us feel like we had no control of the situation and while you feel better for a little bit it only turns into a self destructive helpless attitude that is a hard cycle to break.

Everything is relative. You will have X or be in situation X and you are always left with two choices, apathy or action. Not everything is going to be perfect in your life before you make your next move. There will always be someone else with a better situation, and a worse one. Where you see yourself is usually relative to those around you. Still, You have to move on either way to be where you want to be.

It is up to us to make the decision every time, whether we feel we are at fault or not, to decide to take the circumstances as they are and move forward in a positive direction. Everything is what you make it, and sometimes you just have to play the cards you are dealt. Too many people rely on external forces to be happy or see their lives or more importantly themselves in a better way. The power, the journey, and the truth lies within.

Its no ones fault, there is nothing wrong with being frustrated at misfortune, however, it is also pointless to assume that circumstances that transpired into misfortune in the past will yield the exact same results in the future, however, there is generally fear associated with circumstances and actions that are repeatedly associated with misfortune, and for that reason, its simply time to start learning from our mistakes, as well as observing the mistakes made by others, and concurrently, being bold enough to take a chance when rewards outweigh risks.

Lot's of good thought processes in here.

Check this. I'm not going to go into reincarnation or sort of spiritual beliefs that we choose our lives. Ok? Bag all that just for a few moments here and try to see what I am explaining because it looks like what I'm saying contradicts itself.

Your right. Why on earth would anyone choose such birth defects or being born in a country only to die at the age of 3 because there is no modern medicine.

Listen. That person didn't choose that, BUT he chooses it.

You see? If you can't wrap you're around that then keep thinking about it, ponder and contemplate it. Don't try to think about the unfortunate existenses of so many in another country, think about YOUR existence. Apply it to yourself first.

You didn't choose this, but you choose this.

Ok?

The only difference between say me and Joe Blow off the street working a dead end job that complains how miserable his life is I KNOW I have a choice. I continually consciously choose life, for better or for worse. That is all.

Originally posted by AdamsMurmur
"If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

Knowing what is the truth and what is a lie is the difference between right and wrong. Indeed, we are born with free will to choose a path, and choosing the wrong path, or being "lead" to walk the wrong path, causes us to be in spiritual poverty (bondage; ignorance), but I reiterate: knowing is the difference. OP, you seem to walk into this with the premise that every conceivable choice is the wrong choice. Perhaps you don't know the difference?

edit on 28/4/11 by AdamsMurmur because: (no reason given)

Hmm. I can't seem to make out what you are trying to tell me. I am not a christian and therefore the verse you cited for me doesn't tell me anything. Maybe you could elaborate please?

Maybe the words "fault" and "blame" are the wrong words to use because, in our language, it implies a self-condemning, self-defeating attitude, which isn't what I am saying. That's my fault. (pun intended) lol

Anyways, some of you are getting hung up on those words and aren't seeing the bigger picture.

You choose this. And the "this" is different for everyone of us and I can't speak for those born with what seems like misfortune and neither should you. Stop looking at them and look at yourself.

It's simple. You have a choice. You choose "this" (insert whatever life situation you are in) because you get out of bed in the morning, you choose to eat and drink.

Like I said before, the only difference between Joe Blow and me is I KNOW I have a choice and I consciously choose every second, for better or for worse.