Why we react the way we do

April 28, 2013

Genesis tells us that there needs be opposition in all things; Pleasure and pain, health and sickness, success and failure, honesty and deceit, and a myriad of other combinations of life experiences. As I do my job as a senior people watcher I can’t help pondering on why people do, say and react the ways they do making decisions or reacting in ways that take them to one side of the spectrum or the other.

One young person determined to act out with drugs, alcohol, sexual deviations, and family hurt, came to the conclusion that his path was perfectly fine; that he would be able to experience all the joy life had to offer while continuing on this path. Ten years later he has nothing but a decade of prison and jail time to count for his life. He will be released from prison in the next year, or two. With infinite amounts of talent, time, and resources in his life and his freedom, which decisions will he make? Will he move on to the next level and choose honesty, healthy activities, and a positive and meaningful life, or will he stay on the “dark” side, go back to prison, and play his life out in this way? Even more interesting, why will he make the decisions he will spend his life acting out.

Another young person climbed his way up through being born with fetal alcohol syndrome. He was adopted as a baby, experienced serious symptoms related to his birth, and still moved to adulthood with a desire to do good things. He married, had a son, a wife, and a pet in his life. He truly had overcome the impossible because he had followed the path that provided him with a wonderful future. Never to be understood, he did things (in fairness, we all do) that were detrimental to his relationship and everything fell apart. Now he starts over. Will he move onward and upward, crafting a set of parameters that will take him on the path of honesty, success, health, and pleasure, or will he take the other side of the street and make the downward spiral the critical path of his life? Again, why was he given the opportunity to live life with his specific malady? And, what will be the driving factors related to how well he works through his next stage in life.

I have shared several of my personal stages in life over the past two years. Each time, I had to review my priorities, determine what I wanted from life, and follow the path that would provide me with the most joy and personal satisfaction. Each time, I have asked forgiveness for my nonsense from my Heavenly Father and committed to rid myself of all ungodliness. What joy I have when I follow the direction God has provided for each of us. What delight I have when I see my sweetheart, my kids, and grandkids. What misery I would feel if I had wandered off the path and became part of the great statistic which is represented by the great and spacious building full of people making merry and mocking those who have stayed the course God has provided.

I learn more and more each day about the way God operates his kingdom. He wants us to do those things which will make us happy and fulfilled. He gave us “agency” from the very beginning in maintaining continuation of his plan over Satan’s. The answer to why people do what they do is that we all have our agency. We can choose evil over good. We can be helpful and kind or we can be mean and deceitful. We can blow through the relationships we have with no regard to other’s cares, or we can fully understand and obligate ourselves to honor those relationships. We can avoid hate and envy, or we can let these satanic perspectives rule us. We have that right. I pray that we will all follow the path that takes us through family, friends, caring, charity, and love.

May God bless you in your times of happiness and joy; may you feel his presence in your times of disappointment and sorrow.

Duane Jacobs, Father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, uncle, brother, and fond friend