The Domino Effect: One innocuous event influences another until nothing is quite as it was.
If we took the time to closely examine our lives, we would most likely find that components of our current lives can trace their lineage to an event, minute or grandiose, which previously occurred. Quite often these initial events seem unobtrusive, but upon closer inspection serve as catalysts for large things.
Lately I have taken the time to take a look at where I am now as well as the route it took me to get to this point. Some large decisions understandably influenced many things. Since I was not victorious in the Founder's Scholarship competition at Trinity Christian in February 2005, I ultimately decided to take the money Olivet was offering me. Thanks to deciding to go to Olivet, many dominoes fell as a result. Aside from the obvious fact that I would not have met the people I did at ONU if I did not attend the school, I also would not have worked at Target, because my class schedule at Trinity would not have been as compact. The placements I had for observations as well as student teaching likely would have differed both in their location and timing, and I would not have met the people that I did.
Small events that have occurred in my life have also set the groundwork for momentous occasions. Were it not for my cousin Andy going to Belgium last year, I would not have gone to Florida this spring. Since telephone communication would have been impractical, I bought a webcam and used Skype to communicate. Because I had a webcam, I decided to give Stickam a try, met Shannon in January, and decided to go to Florida as a result. If my cousin had stayed at U of I that semester, none of that would have likely happened.
Likewise, if my initial teaching observation had not bounced around from school to school, I may never have lost weight last year. Winding up at Bremen led to a student passing me a school newspaper, which led to me searching a girl on MySpace, which led to a friendship and eventual failed romantic pursuit, which led to her telling me that she was not physically attracted to me, which led to me killing myself at the gym 6-7 days a week last summer. While my initial motives were not the most upstanding (and they eventually changed), it can be argued that the groundwork for my weight loss began in March 2006.
While the domino effect is a very intriguing phenomenon, it unfortunately can be manipulated to be used as a replacement for personal responsibility. Too often we push aside any blame for failures or mistakes on events which previously occurred. Trust me, I have done it myself. For years, I claimed that my pursuit of Becky Jackson in 2000 failed because I was sabotaged by those who introduced me to her. While that may or may not have happened, the fact of the matter is that I was a creep who called and hung up 20 times. Those saboteurs did not put a gun to my head to force me to do that. While the dominoes fell to get me to that point, the ultimate decision was made by me.
While this was less coherent than I would have liked (and trust me, the ideas I had in the shower when I were thinking this up were so much greater, but alas I had no pen or paper), what I believe I am trying to convey is that the domino effect is an amazing phenomenon, but it is not immune to human responsibility. For the most part, we can positively or negatively affect our situations. No sense letting life simulate itself. Time to win or lose.
