Fairy Tale Spotlight: Cause and Effect

I want to begin this blog with a little story from five or so years ago. I was out taking a walk with fellow author Shawn O'Toole. We would often take a walk down a train track for sometimes up to an hour before we got back home. On one of these walks, we ran into a dog that was standing on the tracks. Its face was bleeding and we had surmised (perhaps incorrectly) that it had been shot by someone.

The dog was clearly suffering and standing very still. It was paranoid about the people standing near him. There was another gentleman there that was trying to coax it off of the tracks. You couldn't get near the animal. It would snap at anyone who got too close because it was in pain and afraid.

As if right out of a movie, a train horn sounded and we realized that this dog was going to just stand there until the train ultimately hit it. The man there managed to convince the dog to walk towards him at the last moment. Once we knew the dog was safe, we went back on our walk and knew nothing else about what happened concerning this canine.

The dog in this story was dealing with its situation at the top layer. It was dealing with the effect of what had happened but knew nothing and cared nothing for the cause. It did not ask who shot it, it just suffered emotionally and in pain. All it knew was pain. It had no thoughts of revenge for what happened. It merely wanted the pain to end and for its suffering to end. The coaxing by the man was perhaps a chance at ridding itself of its woes, the very same woes it was dealing with at that moment in time. It had nothing to do with a gun or the person who chose to shoot it. Everything was top layer. The effect. The cause never became a part of it.

Me and Shawn were certainly angry. Not at the pain the dog was experiencing but towards this unknown individual who shot it. We asked why someone would do such a horrible thing. What did the dog do to deserve it, if at all? Was it random? Was it because of a trespass? We didn't know. The point is that there was a cause that we were interested in. We were dealing with far more than just the effect (like the dog was doing); we were also trying to figure out the cause. We never did figure out the cause, but the point is that we asked the question of what caused it. We were interested. If there was something we could have done, we would have done it.

Animals do not deal with the cause. They only deal with effects. Effects happen on the top layer, the same layer where emotions are found. Animals react emotionally to effects. They only see and hear emotionally by what they see and hear in the moment they exist. There memory is only there to train them. They don't ask why. They only remember things as a manner to learn lessons on how to deal with similar situations. But in all cases, animals are reactionary on the emotional level. That's all they can do... because they are not human.

Humans have the ability to react emotionally to an effect, but we can also dive deeper into the meaning of the top layer. We can dig down the layers past where emotion lies and try and find a cause. The source of all the woes in the world are generally not skin deep. We always see the ever-present effect, and forget that every effect has a cause. And the cause can only be found through diligence and careful examination. But you have to ask the question of "why" first. You have to look past the clear and present and emotional present reality and try your best to find out why something happened to begin with. If you fail to do this, you will be just as lost as that dog.

People should not react emotionally to things. They need to observe and attempt to discover why something is happening. If you only react emotionally like an animal, you can be controlled and trained like an animal. You will become a creature born and controlled by your environment. And he who controls your environment will control you. They will create powerful slogans and emotional arguments to get a reaction out of you. You'll hear their emotional pleas and instantly join their agenda. Why? Who knows? You never asked. You only heard the emotional argument and let it sway you. In a passion you are now fighting for someone you never knew, never met, know nothing about (but what they told you), and they have absolute power over you by simply saying that slogan that you are reacting you.

This unknown person is the cause. What he does causes an effect. If you only deal with the effect, you will always be under his control. You will essentially be his slave. He can do anything he wants, and if you disagree with it, he will renew his slogan, you'll react to it, and you will follow his ways to the bitter end.

Cause and effect. Layers. Emotions on the top. The truth is way down at the bottom... at the beginning. Don't be an animal. Be a human. Ask why, and then seek out the truth. Don't let your emotions enslave you. Be human. That's all.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!