Someone else’s mistake

In a way I believe that we all end up paying for the mistake of those who came before us. This happens in society – it wasn’t my generation that put our nation into the current recession, but we are certainly the ones paying for it. This also happens at home. We usually end up paying for the mistakes of our parents. Stop to think how many alcoholics became one – most likely they grew up with family gatherings and parties that were all centered around alcohol. They grew up thinking that to have fun you needed alcohol and that alcohol brought people together, so in order to be liked and loved you best have booze. Same thing with a sex addict – mommy and daddy were careless and maybe you found those videos or that box of toys and you were intrigued and started experimenting. Or a drug addict – maybe mom and dad experimented…you know, it’s OK when you’re a hippie – maybe they had a problem and were struggling; either way you found their stash and either to be cool or to prove that it wasn’t something that had to control your life you did it and now you’re hooked too. I’m not saying that our parents are evil and didn’t love us. I’m sure they loved us deeply and were not consciously trying to hurt us. If my theory is true then they were only paying for the mistakes of others as well. The thing is that there comes a point where we have to rise above that. There comes a point where we have to be responsible for ourselves. I’m paying for the mistakes of others is just too easy of a cop out. If we know in our hearts it’s wrong and continue to do it, then it is no longer someone else’s mistake. It is now ours. We must take ownership of our wrongdoing and correct it. We are not and cannot be responsible for those who came before us, but we most certainly are and can be responsible for ourselves. Our actions will always speak much louder than our words. No one will remember what we said a year from now, but everyone will remember what we did ten years later. What we do will also affect those who come after us. Our children will ultimately end up paying the price for our mistake, so be careful not to leave them any debt.