A Fine Line

As a person, I am all for intentions. What does that mean? It means I’m all for finding out why a person did something and taking that into consideration before making up my mind about something/someone. This is especially important to me because I have often done things with the best of intentions only to have them misunderstood and flung in my face as wrong, evil, thoughtless, etc.

For this reason, I think and over think and over think before I do anything. Not the best approach but it works for me. I think of all the possible scenarios that could happen and the best ways to combat them.

Now, in as much as I advocate for intentions, good intentions don’t always mean right actions. That you had good intentions doesn’t mean the call you made was right or necessary. Often, in the spur of the moment, when emotions are high, adrenaline is rushing, we feel like we are trapped. We feel like the one option that crosses our mind is the only option and irrespective of the situation, ( i.e. buying that extra drink, following that guy home, popping that pill, telling that “white lie”), things we wouldn’t normally do become “I didn’t have a choice” and I didn’t want to,  situations.

There is a fine line between having the right intentions and doing the right thing. For you to have good intentions and do the right thing, you need to force yourself to pause and think before you act. This is extremely hard when emotions are high. But, it is so worth it.

I used to have a track record for saying things that got me into trouble. I remember once, I  made a statement to the people around me. In my head, it wasn’t careless, I had the best intentions. I needed to pass across a message and I didn’t think the way I said it was wrong. But, boy was I wrong. My way upset some of the people that were there, and unfortunately they were older than me. Long story short, I decided there and then that I wouldn’t do anything without thinking and thinking and thinking it through. I decided not to make serious decisions when happy, excited, or have any sort of extreme emotion flooding my system.  Why? Because when push comes to shove, very few people care about the fact that you didn’t mean any harm. They don’t care about the fact that we all think differently and what might be fine to you may be the opposite to them and vice versa.

So yea, there is a fine line between good intentions and good actions. Sometimes they mean the same thing, other times they don’t. However, when you are about to make any decision, especially one that involves people, take a minute and pause. Think about it for a second. Is it really necessary? Are there other ways that are less likely to offend or hurt someone? If there are, then maybe consider changing your actions. Because, good intentions mean nothing if they cost someone a job, a life, a loved one, peace of mind etc.

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