Jails are a big part of society. The people that inhibit them are numerous and the walls are filling up. Every fiscal year the city, county, and state governments have to allow a jail allowance in the budget somewhere. This jail allowance pays for food, housing, parole officers, fencing, barbed wire, and Harvard Business professors who come to teach classes to the inmates. These "jail-birds" do not choose to be there, they are sent there by the higher power of the law.
In a sense, they did choose to be there, by offending this "higher power of law." Could there be a chance of jail in the future of a convict? Of course!
The question then one must ask is why. Why do people everywhere choose to in the end be subject to the law of action and consequence? Why do people choose to do bad things? Why do people sin? Why do people choose mediocrity over their full potential?
The bulk of this should be blamed on short-term thought.
One of my friends at work is a very good person. He got in trouble with the law vandalizing cars "because I was bored." He has been fined 600 dollars already, and the fines are expected to total upwards of 9000. He still has 2 more court sessions with the penalty of jail time looming over his head. Now he is kicking himself for doing so. "If you were to try a stunt like that, " he would say, " I would shoot you before you had the chance."
While he was driving his friends around vandalizing cars, his thoughts weren't on jail at the time. They were on something different, like which car they would throw bricks through next.
Actions come from thoughts. Poor actions come from poor decisions.
For example: People choose to swear because their mind isn't sufficiently filled with an appropriate vocabulary. The first word that then comes to their head is a cuss because it takes no thought to come up with that sort of word. Intelligent minds think before they speak and they weigh their words carefully, which usually results in an intelligent conversation worthwhile of one's time.
If we all were to think before acting, then the bulk of us would have less regrets. Pele was considered the best soccer player on the earth. As to why? "He thinks 8-10 steps ahead of him. The average human thinks 2-3 steps, " says a sports analyst. He alone knows what its like to be the best because he has been there. He has thought well and chosen his lifestyle to be that way.
Pres. Gordon B. Hinkly has had an amazing life from all aspects of it. He has chosen to keep his life amazing and always be doing something worthwhile. He is very decorated with accolades and awards from numerous continents. His good decisions brought him to this high level of "discipleship."
The second part of mediocrity comes from the natural tendency to be lazy, or find the easiest shortcut possible.
Being in AP U.S. History provides one with an intellectual challenge. The hardest part about this class is the effort that needs to be put there in order to maintain a well-rounded grade. The top 10 or so students in that class are used to spending effort on their studies. They choose to do homework rather than shirk it off till later. The rest of us know how easy it is to not do homework. While we watch T.V., none of our thoughts are on the tests or assignments looming. The nagging thought we call our conscience nudges us and reminds us our APUSH homework should be done. We choose the easy task of watching T.V. (which has been proven to shut down our minds).
The reason why humans everywhere lose the sight of their full potential is because they choose not to look for it. They choose the easy way and they don't think about the outcome of their actions till it is in front of their face- on top of their mind.
The people everyone respects are the ones that imagine themselves being better. They know they can be better because they have done it before. They continue to improve because they always have the next step in their sight; they always have high potential in their view. They chose to be at their full potential.
