Consequences

This week’s worldwide news / social media storm about Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear and One Direction star Zayn Malik made me think about something.

The choices we make.

The choice Jeremy Clarkson made when he decided to punch his producer, Oisin Tymon, in the face in a fit of rage over steak and chips (and subsequently lost his job).

The choice the BBC made to fire him.

The choice Zayn Malik made to leave the ‘richest boyband in music history’ after five years, at the age of 22, because he wanted to ‘feel more normal’.

No matter how famous/rich or how normal we are, life is a series of choices.

“What you decide will never impact your life as much as how you handle the consequences of that decision”.  (Michael Neill,  author of The Inside Out Revolution)

Where will these two chaps go from here?  They have some big consequences of these big decisions to handle.  Good and bad.

How we handle the consequences of a decision is a whole series of other decisions, choices that will create a particular outcome in our lives.

For example, if you choose to leave a relationship, and make the decision to act with dignity and with respect for the other person, the outcome for your life will be quite different from the one you’ll get if you decide to pile their clothes on the front lawn and set fire to them.

Likewise, if you decide to make a brave decision about following your dreams, you’ll get a different outcome if you choose to count the ways in which your new life hasn’t lived up to your expectations, from the one you’ll get by choosing to find things to be excited about, and seeing any mistakes as learning opportunities and preparation for the next exciting episode.

Even decisions we’ve made in haste, at a time of ‘stinking thinking’, will have their final outcome and impact determined by the way in which we choose to respond to the consequences.

It’s empowering to remember we’re always at a point of choice.  The next thing that comes out of our mouths, the next action we take, will impact the outcome for us and others.

On a different tangent about choices, two sets of friends are getting married this weekend, one in Auckland (NZ) and one in Sri Lanka.  Sim and I are supposed to be there for the joyful celebrations but sadly we’re not.

Two sets of friends my family love dearly have recently separated.

It may sound stupidly simple but I think it’s very true: choose your life partner wisely.  It’s the best choice I’ve ever made.

14 concerts down, five more to go… it’s been an absolute blast.
Thank you Bravo Amici.
Thank you Florida!

When I next write I’ll be home in London with my girls.

Have a great week!
Geoff

P.S. I’m a proud kiwi – huge congratulations to the NZ Black Caps for their spectacular win in the Semi Finals of the Cricket World Cup in Auckland on Tuesday!  Wishing them victory in this weekend’s Final in Melbourne, Australia!