Categories: Hazel Rosetta Smith,
Sincere consideration of our actions should manifest an understanding of how we find ourselves in the present situation. Thinking about it, looking back at it, meditating, and praying on it, is the hope of hindsight.
Hindsight is the ability to understand a past event or situation only after it has happened. When you have more facts or see how things turned out, looking back on a situation can open our eyes to how and why circumstances unfolded as they did.
One of the biggest surprises we can experience is one in which we surprise ourselves. When our emotions are the ruling force, it is an opening for our senses to get out of control. Good sense is in jeopardy when we cannot rationalize a situation before making a move.
Examples can include forming an opinion too quickly, exaggerating a situation or striking a swift blow without considering the consequences. You may find yourself reaping the hazard of the idiom, the straw that broke the camel’s back.
When we are unsure of the situation, there is a greater chance we move too fast in taking advice from others who have limited interest or goodwill in their suggestions.
Decision making takes patience and time to consider the facts before jumping to a conclusion. There will come a time when we wonder how we got involved in something that we never thought we could be a participant.
After all is said and done, that is when hindsight comes into play. It is easier to see what went wrong or what should have been done after an event occurs, just like having perfect 20/20 vision.
Though it can be mind boggling in the realization that we have not given appropriate time or investigation to a plan before signing off on it, there is.
value in hindsight for future growth.
Hindsight offers alternatives. Just as we know there are two sides to every story and two sides to a coin, there is more than one way to resolve an issue. The first step is fact checking to gather all pertinent information. The second step is to apply the information to the issue. The third step is a futuristic look at the effect of the result of the decision.
Hindsight is not as painful when you know you have factored in all possibilities for success and failure with the focus on using good judgement from the beginning.
[Hazel Rosetta Smith is a journalist, playwright, and artistic director for HSTM, and HRS-Hazel Rosetta Speaks! Retired, former Managing Editor of the New York Beacon News. Contact: misshazel@twc.com and online at www.hazelrosettasmith.com]
