It was an accident!

This phrase is one of my two year old sons favorites. He uses as a catch all for bad behavior, if I spill my milk its an accident. He also uses this four word magic phrase to get out of what I have come to think of as "on purposes." If Daddy won't get up out of the recliner to play blocks and he grabs a soda and sends it flying across the living room that, in his mind is an accident too.

Now most would realize that this is in fact a tantrum and write it off to the unhinged emotionalism of a toddler. However, when I study my son I start to see more and more of myself and some basics in human nature. He did not accidentally pick up the soda I was drinking and send it flying, yet he does not delineate the difference between an action that was a mistake and an action that was unintentional.

Understandable misuse of words for a two year old, but I see the rest of us in his actions. How often do we find out that we are in a situation we don't like and declare to all that will hear us "this is an accident," in fact most things in our lives are the result of our decisions and our non-decisions. From the wealthiest to the poorest, the most disgruntled to the most contented we all are nothing more than an accumulation of past actions and decisions we have made to both internal and external forces.

While this should be a source of great hope, all too often we just tend to go with the flow and hope for the best. What an opportunity! If I am a sum of decisions and actions made in the past then I have the opportunity to impact my future by the decisions I make.