Cause, Effect, and Time

We’ve all heard the certainty, “for every effect, there is a cause”. You can decide for yourself whether the source of the phrase is scientific or philosophical.

What’s more important is that it’s verifiably accurate.

When you’re young, however, you rarely have to deal with the effects of your “causes”. You can pretty much enjoy anything non-lethal and not have to deal immediately with eventualities.

But for those of us who are older, the Biblical equivalent of this concept, in terms of behavior, becomes more obvious: “whatever you sow, you shall reap”.

To me, this somehow sounds more ominous than the previous phrase. Perhaps the former is more rhetorical and the latter is more assertive.

Whatever the case, as we gradually “mature”, things begin to happen. Muscles start to ache from sudden increases in activity. Every donut we consume seems to go right to the waistline. And we have to learn to handle “abnormal” lab results from the doctor’s office.

There was a time when I thought that these creeping effects were just a normal part of existence, and of course some are. What I think I may have overlooked during those “middle ages” were some of the long term consequences of cause and effect, or, of sowing and reaping.

And it’s those accumulated consequential outcomes that we end up having to contend with when we reach the fabled “senior” status. We now have to think differently and more creatively as to how we can alter the course we’re on.

Often, we’d like for change to occur quicker and faster, but the problem is that we’re older and slower. For seniors, our stage in life is the most significant factor with which we must contend.

Time, the dimension that was our ally for so many years, has now become our enemy.