There are consequences to everything we do.

This is a picture of me teaching my granddaughter, Claire, how to turn a light switch on and off and what happens when she does. Every time she throws the switch she looks at the light fixture. She’s learning that there’s a connection between her hand moving the switch and the light being on or off.

I’m introducing her to the immutable concept that all actions have consequences. Cause and effect—the direct relationship between an action or event and its consequence or result.

In the coming years I’ll expand this lesson to include:

• • • All words have consequences. 
      • • When I spoke harshly to a direct report, it created a breach in our relationship.
        • When I said “I love you” to my daughter, it strengthened our relationship. 
    • All thoughts have consequences. 
      • • Daydreaming about my granddaughter brings me joy and motivates me to be a better grandfather. 
        • Critical thoughts about people sully my mind.  
    • All commitments have consequences. 
      • • I committed to spend my life with Mary. I’m so glad I did. 
        • In 1984 I invested in a land syndication in Houston. It took decades to recoup my money.  
    • All decisions have consequences
      • • In college I decided to major in music.
        • We moved back to Dallas 33 years ago.
    • All financial transactions have consequences. 
      • • I started investing in the stock market in the mid-70’s when the Dow Jones average was 844. Today it’s at 43,000. 
        • In the early 80’s I withdrew $10k from my retirement fund to buy a car. If I had not done that the $10k would now be worth $51k. 
    • Neglect, passivity, and procrastination have consequences. 
      • • Years ago I didn’t change my home HVAC filters regularly and the motor burned out. 
        • For about 10 years, as a young adult, I did not read any books. 

Every cause creates an effect. Positive actions will lead to positive outcomes, and negative actions will lead to negative outcomes.

Once Claire understands the law of cause and effect, I’ll teach her about the domino effect—when one event sets off a series of similar or related events, a form of chain reaction.

For instance, having turned off the light in a room, you might then trip over a toy and sprain your foot, which will prevent you from participating in the family ski trip. Having turned on a light in a room you may see an object that you thought was lost, which will save you from buying another one, which will allow you to spend the money on a book, which when read may change your life. One thing leads to another which leads to another.

“Claire, the primary lesson you must learn is: before you do anything, think about the potential consequences. Always be thinking of consequences.” 

The Bible says is succinctly; “What a person plants, he will harvest” (Galatians 6:7).