There's a show on SpikeTV called "A Thousand Ways To Die." In their intro they say. "...it's a miracle that any of us even survive..." But, when you think about it, how many things do we really take into account as we go through our daily lives? I just can't believe that our survival is nothing more than chance and coincidence.
I was washing dishes during this past holiday, when the label on one plate struck me. It was on the back of this "Cookies for Santa" plate that was given to me by a neighbor, with home-baked cookies on it, for Christmas. It read, "East West Distributing Company, "Safe For Dishwasher," "Safe For Microwave," "Made in China." For some reason the wiseass remark that came to my mind was, "What, not safe for people?"
A couple years back there was a fuss about toys being manufactured in China for American companies that had excessive levels of lead in the paint. The products were recalled, taken off shelves and when you think about manufacturing standards, 'OK we take care of our children, but do we take care of ourselves as adults?, Do we test the things that adults use, especially during the rush of holiday buying, with the same criteria as we do the things that are for our children?, Did anyone even check the plate I'm using through any quality control tests anywhere along it's product manufacturing/distribution cycle?
In the course of our daily lives, how many decisions do we make on things that we simply take for granted that could, either in the short term or long term, affect the outcomes of our lives, that we don't even consciously consider?
That plate gets used often, even though the season has past. Partially because of the sentimental value and the fact that it was a gift and the fact that its a convenient snack-sized plate. Am I endangering myself by taking for granted, in the spirit of giving and receiving, holiday cheer and sentimentality, that all is as it should be?
If you apply that question to every facet and pixel of our lives, we make thousands of decisions consciously and subconsciously every second, but sometimes more from reflex or assumptions than by calculated, substantiated, logical thought.
For every action there is a reaction, and every reaction an action in and of itself, and so on. Are we really consciously considering all the pieces of the puzzle every time we make a decision?
The best we can do is make a conscious effort to be vigilant and try not to run instinctively off of learned, taught or conformist reflex, but out of thoughtful consideration of our actions and the results of our decisions. For each and every one of us that do, it makes us better off...both individually and for the world as a whole.
