Triumphrat

tba-golfer

I'm a big believer and student of the notion of the Law of Uninteded Consequences...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequence

Examples:

1. Golf. My passion just to play the game has led me to meet amazing people, who have shaped my life, and to visit places that would otherwise be just dots on a globe.

2. Triumphs. My goal was to get a bike and learn how to ride around the block. Stumbling onto this forum, interacting with such a wide variety of diverse and wonderful folks, meeting Boozefighter, going to the Salt Flats, and soon Bennington... completely beyond, happily, what I had foreseen.

3. The Markets. There is an old Wall Street saying, "Its the bus you never see that runs you down." That's the fun and excitement, and the learning tool, trying to look for the bus, trying to guess at the unintended consequences. An example, that is troubling: the incidence of diabetes in India is multipling dramatically, as a result seemingly, of the rise in income.
As much of the populous earns more money, the tradional diet of a very low caloric intake of vegetables and starches has given rise to increased consumption of protein and processed sugar. Here I've been investing in agriculture related stocks, A. trying to make money, and B. thinking that these companies are serving some grand and greater good, and now this...

So, my point? Maybe none. Or maybe that I need to examine the potential consequences of my actions more, and appreciate the positive unintended outcomes and take to heart the lessons of the negative outcomes.

Essay endeth.

__________________
"And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose."
A. E. Housman

hogwylde

Amen and well said!

__________________
The mind is like a parachute. Works best when open.

Catenaccio

I hope life is about the journey not the destination.

Old Scratcher

It has to be about the journey. 'Coz the destination (death) sux!

__________________
"They told me I was goin to have to work for my living, & all I wanna do is ride. I don't care where we're goin from here. So Honey you decide" Jackson Browne (the Road & The Sky)

midliferider

Here, Here, I'll drink to these observations. Especially learning to ride and having my first and only bike being a Triumph. I had always wanted to ride and only wanted a Triumph. At the ripe age of 51 I finally achieved this goal. That was six years ago and I've had a great deal of fun and have met wonderful people because of learning to ride a motocycle. Never turn down a chance of opportunity. Life is like one big #@%**#! box of chocolates for sure. But be careful one can eat too much of a good thing at times. Now where's my bottle of pepto?
Thanks for the thoughtful thread.

mistermellow001

When life gets comfortable, it gets harder to confront the unknown. Stepping out your door (or comfort zone) increases the chances for unintended consequences.

A lot of people I know strain really hard to sh!t a perfect world, and fret when things don't go their way. It seems like the happiest people I know are the one's who take life as it comes. I'm not sure where I stand, but I'm learning to not regret anything I do as long as I'm consistent.

Good subject, and well said.

__________________
Guy

"Always be yourself... unless you suck"
~ Joss Whedon

DaveB

My first reaction on reading this was that it was a Whisperinsmith-type observation, & that's a compliment to both of you.

Is it perhaps that you are thinking in these terms because you now have more time to do so? For myself, it's just the continual pressure of v important work deadlines that's all I seem to see at the moment & I don't think much beyond that. I know that's an excuse but there's a good deal of truth behind it. I did manage to think on a much wider level during my 3 week vacation over Christmas & the New Year but, gosh, that seems so so long ago .

DaveB.

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The World looks better when viewed through a dark tint Arai visor

bruce19

IMHO everytime you do something new it's like buying a ticket for a bus out of town. You're going to meet a lot of people you didn't know and do some things you didn't anticipate. There's a whole flow of energy out there that can't be seen or heard but you can feel it. If you go with the feeling you have some interesting experiences.

Whisperinsmith

Scott,

From reading your posts and getting to know how you view life, I can think of no one who "examine(s) the potential consequences of (your)actions more" than you. You are a good person.

As for "unintended consequences" and how they play into life's hand, I love each and every moment they happen, be it positive or negative. Obviously I don't relish the negative unintended consequences, but I have to appreciate them for letting me know how silly it is to take this journey too seriously and to keep me humble. And when a positive unintended consequence happens, I laugh and giggle with the universe and give her a big thumbs up. (Yes, bikers can giggle! It's allowed.)

Thanks for posting this. I was in a really, really bad funk lately and needed a good push.

If I may, I'm going to relate "unintended consequences" to my love of the novella. From my fading memory, its definition is something along the lines of "an unplausible, yet believable event". And this event in the true novella form, takes place exactly in the middle of the story, the "Wendepunkt", turning point. You are led in one direction and then you are thrown onto an opposite, yet believable, path. I love it in novellas and I love it in life. (Read "The Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio for examples. His 100 stories to pass the time during the black death. The story, "The Falcon" is one of the best for "unintended consequences".)

__________________
Life. Fill 'er up. It's all we got.

http://www.armchaircommando.org/benn...Bash/Home.html
Bennington, VT May 31, June 01 2008

MVP44

the goal is to not let any situation define who you are, but let your response to any given situation show your true character

We all have the ability to choose our response - that can have negative or positive effects

Many things about life would be of a much more postive aspect if as TBA points out we "think about consequences before we act." Imagine what such logic could do to the divorce rate in America alone.