Intent and Impact.

It seems to be that we (and I include myself in this mess) seem to have profound difficulty comprehending that intent amounts to almost nothing when weighed against the impact of our behavior.

The photo is of the feet of a bunny recently brought to Heartland Rabbit Rescue by a "well intentioned" human who said he "couldn't care for" the bunny anymore due to his work demands and wanted a "good home" for the bunny. He seemed to "care"...at least he didn't dump the bunny onto the street. That's not nothing...and yet...his "good" intentions didn't mean an absence of avoidable suffering for the bunny.




The bunny (and the bunny's bother) had been enclosed in a small space with a wire floor for nearly 4 years...with the subsequent neglect and damage to their feet. He said he didn't trim their nails because he was afraid of hurting them.

Well intentioned? Apparently so. The cause of suffering and pain...yup.

Whatever your intentions might be...for the recipient of your intentions what counts is the impact of your action (or lack of action). Intentions are mostly stories (fantasies) you tell yourself to convince yourself of your "goodness" or "innocence".

Don't misunderstand...mean people doing mean things is terrible...but what might even be worse are people who think they're "good" all the while they're doing awful things (or failing to do the right thing).

At least an out and out villain is recognizable as such...folks who believe themselves to be "good" while promoting harm...well...that seems to confuse the hell out of us.

Ever wonder why we apparently have such difficulty comprehending that the two (intent versus impact) have little or no relation to one another?

I suspect, at least in part that's because societies structured by oppression encourage this kind of dysfunctional thinking because that way awfulness can keep on keeping on...but...all of us who participate in awfulness and uphold and support it can keep on keeping on thinking we're "good people" even though destruction and harm and horror surround us...somehow we think it is not associated with us and what we do or fail to do.


Advice from an old man (which means I've lived a long time and thought about many things)....enjoy your "good" intentions if you want but realize they count for nearly nothing when compared to the impact of what you do (or fail to do).

That's your lesson in demystifying living for today.