There are few true “accidents”

For years, in raising children, when something undesirable happened, the first thing you would hear was “It was an accident.” That was always the “go to” answer to seek absolution of the misdeed. 

Merriam-Webster defines an accident as “an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance.”

In reality, there are few events that qualify as a true accident. There is an entire science of “Root Cause Analysis” that explores all the dynamics of events that led to the final outcome or “accident.”

Many “accidents” are complicated and take educated personnel to find the cause. When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded during its ascent, thousands of man-hours of the smartest folks available got to the bottom of the cause.

The majority of “accidents” are not that complicated. When a child knocks over a glass of milk, the most likely cause was inattention or carelessness. It could have been prevented by the child paying attention or the parent using a sippy cup since an uncapped glass of liquid near a child has a good chance of being tipped, especially if there is a history of it happening before.

Automobile “accidents” are also foreseeable. Defensive driving and seeing unsafe conditions coming before they result in a collision can avoid most accidents. The best rule is to always expect the other driver to do something irrational or unexpected.

You cannot live your entire life in a cocoon, avoiding every potential negative action but you can develop an inner sense of learning to “see over the horizon” and anticipate negative events that can be avoided. 

History is the best teacher so learning from mistakes or past occurrences is a vital tool in keeping life on an even keel and close to your center.