Uncommon Sense
You have probably heard this at some time in your life, “Joe (or whomever) just has no common sense.” I got to thinking about this, and I think the premise is incorrect. We HAVE common sense; we just choose NOT to USE it. You know how I figured this out? Common sense!
Think about it. How many times do we do things that we KNOW are bad for us, but we go against every red flag waving us off and do it anyway? Don’t tell me I am the only one on this planet that has done that. It could be entering a relationship that you know is unhealthy for both of you, but you do it anyway. It could be having that piece of pie when you just got told by the Doctor to cut back on the carbs. It could be going out to buy that new car when you are swimming in debt already.
Am I touching a nerve yet? I was trying to figure out why in all the world we would do some of the stupid things that we have done…and I think I figured out at least part of the dilemma. We don’t consider the consequences. If we DID, how many marriages would have been saved (perhaps by never taking place to begin with)? How many health risks would have been diminished? How many bankruptcies would have been avoided? How many wars would never have taken place?
Common sense is there for us…but we have to use it. If you think back on some of the BIG mistakes you have made in your life, you probably had a gut check somewhere along the decision path that this was not the brightest idea you ever had. The older we get, the more we seem to realize that decisions we make today can have life-long implications. Boy, do I wish I had learned THAT many years ago.
When you are young and stupid you tend to think that you are bullet proof….and the excuse that everyone else is doing it seems to make a lot of sense. Good grief! How ridiculous is that reasoning??? But as we grow older, we see the consequences of our actions, and common sense tells us to at least warn the younger generation not to make the same mistakes we have made or that we have seen others make.
Uncommon sense is simply using your common sense the majority of the time. It would be great if we used it all the time, but that is probably unrealistic when that piece of pie is staring you in the face. That would be uncommon, right? But it makes common sense to do it. Here is hoping that you and I use the gift that God has given us, and that we share the gift this with those who seem to be in the rut of making the same mistakes over and over and over. Think of uncommon sense as paving a road that is full of ruts. Happy paving!
Shalom!
Dan Skognes