This is the first excerpt of my new book, it is slowly coming together. As authors will tell you the first thing you need to do is decide on the subject of the book, the concept and then what you are going to include. Writing this first part cemented the ideas I had formulating in my head. I hope it will whet your appetite for more.

CONSEQUENCES

Consequences are those pesky things that follow a decision taken. In my first book, ‘Life Is Jut A Bowl Of Choices’, I looked at the choices I had been presented with throughout the last 65 years, the decisions I took, and the ultimate consequences that I was to live with. In some instances these have been immediate and short lived, however, some have managed to stay with me for life.

The consequences of our actions do not only affect ourselves, they affect those around us, and most times we are not even aware until sometimes it is just too late to put things right.

Living with the consequences can be emotional, affect your health and in some cases lead to a break up of family. I can honestly say that I have suffered all of these as a direct result of the decisions I have taken. For some there is no relief or quick fix and can be life affecting, with no way out other than the most drastic measures some will take. There certainly have been times in my life when I could not see a way through but with the help available I have learnt different ways to deal with the issues even if the only way is acceptance.

Can I go back and change them? In some cases yes, but in most, no. So how do you deal with the fall out? In my case, acceptance of the situation is the default position, especially when I cannot find a way out of it or by my very nature I cannot go back on a decision that affects those around me.

Currently I have found no way to deal with the family break up as this always takes two to tango and in my case that is not something my family want to rectify. So I just live in hope that one day they can forgive me for the decisions I took that they feel have affected them so badly.

Emotionally, well that is another story and one I want to deal with in the following chapters, confronting them and sharing my thoughts and actions with you. As cathartic as this will be for me, I do hope that you will be able to draw some consolation that as human beings we all go through the same gamut of emotions and recriminations, but don’t necessarily deal with them in the same way.