Have you ever wondered how your actions affect your life through a chain of events? How does one choice affect other choices? You’ve probably heard people complaining about their lives, but never heard them talking about the actions that cause it.
Their lives result from their decisions and actions, demonstrating the law of cause and effect.
In this article, we will examine the universal law of cause and effect and will try to understand how it works and affects our lives.
What is the Law of Cause and Effect?
The universal law of cause and effect states that every action generates an impact in our lives, followed by a chain of events, one leading to another and coming back to us. Nothing happens by chance.
Every effect has a cause behind it if we can trace it back to its roots. The journey will depend upon the action, some will be short, and some will take longer.
A common example of this law which we see often in our lives is Karma- the impact of one’s actions. It is often termed as the consequence of intentionally harmful acts.
If we want an effect of our desire, say, the one that matches our idol, we need to analyze their life story and study the cause and the ripple effects that transformed their lives.
We need to perform the same actions and follow the same path.
Cause and Effect Spiral
Every cause has an effect and every effect becomes the cause of something else.
This universal law works in a spiral, and our actions make the spiral better or worse. The effect of an action creates an opening to make more similar actions.
An opening creates more openings by inviting similar habits to make our lives better or worse. Bad habits often come in pairs of triplets and quadruplets.
For example, smoking cigarettes causes one’s willpower to decline through nicotine addiction, weakening resistance power and inviting other bad habits, probably more dangerous ones, like alcoholism.
Whereas, if one decides to quit smoking addiction and consistently battle the urge for a few days, his willpower will increase, and he will exercise this power to stop other bad habits as well.
This cause-and-effect spiral often deepens with the quality of our actions. So it’s better to take positive action.
A major difference between a good and a bad spiral is our awareness of actions, which we will talk more about in the following sections.
Intentions
A major factor that influences our actions is our intentions. Our lives move in the direction of our strongest thought i.e. our intentions.
The universe only focuses on the intention of our actions, it doesn’t differentiate between good and bad. Good and bad are man-made, one’s bad can be another’s good.
One can go out of their morality to do something for the good of someone. Is the action bad? Yes. Is the intention bad? No.
The effect will always follow the intention. Good intentions will be followed by favorable results while bad intentions will be followed by negative results.
Time Delay
The difference between the physical law and this universal law is that the impact of physical law is instantaneous whereas the universal law takes time.
Most people cannot grasp the concept of the law of cause and effect because of the time delay. The time taken to experience the effect journeys through various chain of events.
It also depends on the action, some effects take time, while others may occur fast.
Only if a bee stings every time someone does an intentionally bad action, he or she will realize the pattern and will become more conscious of their actions.
Living in Effect
A major part of the population is living in effect, mostly taking unconscious actions and bearing unwanted consequences.
Often complaining about circumstances without considering their actions, which are in turn influenced by their circumstances.
Always stuck in the past, regretting past decisions, instead of making positive decisions, that will impact their future lives.
They live like a victim of consequences rather than being the creators of their reality. Often criticizing and blaming others.
Their negative spiral has deepened so much that they are almost operating predictably.
Their decisions lead to the same situations, which again leads to the same decisions, living like a machine.
“Unconscious actions cause unwanted effects“
To stop living in effect and start making conscious decisions they need to get over the past.
It is important to understand that people want to move out of their bad cause-and-effect cycles. But their intentions to cause good are overwhelmed by their automatic responses.
How to Use the Law of Cause and Effect
If you don’t like your current circumstances, change the cause, and to change it you need to look within yourself.
You first need to stop whining about your past bad decisions. You cannot change your past, what you can change is your future when you start taking conscious actions.
To change the effect you can apply the following steps:
1. Become Aware
First of all, become aware of your actions, stop living unconsciously, and keep in mind that your actions will have an impact on you, either positive or negative. Don’t regret your past, you cannot change what has happened, you will only waste time regretting it.
2. Choose your Effect
Write in detail what reality you want to create for yourself. Do you admire a certain personality, and want to become like them? Want to experience their lives?
Watch their interviews, read their books, and analyze their life story and you will find the actions they take to be what they are now. Follow the same path and repeat their actions.
3. Control your Thoughts
Take control of your thoughts and avoid surrendering to old routines of thinking. Your old thoughts and beliefs have developed into actions that are causing you to suffer in the present time. It’s time to change it.
4. Make a Routine
Develop a daily routine and follow it strictly. Make yourself busy, so that you don’t revert to the old cycle of cause and effect. As you follow a new routine daily, new openings will be created that will change the cycle.
5. Become mindful
Be mindful, and remove distractions that cause mental clutter. It will improve your decision-making ability and help you to stay focused on your goals.
6. Have Patience
Stop thinking about when you will experience the effect, the effect will take time but it will come most unexpectedly. Trust the universe.
Conclusion
Success is not an accident and Failure is not an accident, both are the detriments of the decisions one makes. What sets them apart is that the former is making active conscious decisions focusing on the goal while the latter is giving automatic responses to their circumstances.
Intention matters, it is the strongest signal the universe gets and is the only thing the universe cares about. Your life moves in the direction of your strongest thought. So align your thoughts, intentions, and actions, what will follow is the effect.
