There is a natural law that controls everything in the universe, and it is called the law of cause and effect. While most people do not know fully about this great law, the law we do know about is the law of gravity. We know that if we get on top of a building and fall off, we will always go down, we will never go up.

The thing that is important for every person to understand is that natural laws always work, without exception, and they literally control our lives. The law of cause and effect simply means that for every cause there is an effect, and for every effect there is a cause. Life is all about making good choices. When we make good choices, the law is working for us, and when we make bad choices, this law is working against us.

            Here are some choices that I have made that work for me: I don’t use drugs, smoke, vape, drink alcoholic beverages, gamble, use profanity, run with immoral or ungodly people, and I do my best to be honest, tell the truth and treat others as I wish to be treated. Let me give you a true example of what I am saying. I had a sister and an uncle who started smoking when they were young, became addicted and became chain smokers. We know that science has proven that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer. Well, my uncle and my sister both developed lung cancer and died way before their time. If they had both known about the law of cause and effect, they may not have made the choice to smoke.

            There is another choice that many people make that could be unnecessarily holding them back. This is the choice or habit of using profanity. We don’t have to use profanity very long before it becomes a habit. In most cases the reason young people use profanity is because their parents use profanity. Using profanity is a terrible habit and, in most cases, it is a sign of a poor vocabulary. We can do better. It has been said there is one thing we cannot hide, except by silence, and that is the use of our language.

            When we open our mouths and begin to speak, we proclaim to the world our place on the social and economic ladder. How many times has some person gone in for an interview for a job and, without ever knowing the reason why, they were not hired. Sometimes it was because they used profanity during the interview.

Please understand, I am not saying that the person who uses profanity is a bad person, because that would be wrong, but what I am saying is that the person who uses profanity on a regular basis is needlessly holding themselves back from countless opportunities to have a better and more rewarding life. If we want to have a better life, the place to begin is with our heart. When we get our heart right, everything else will fall in place.

While the odds are great that I won’t know you personally, I do care about you and your future. If you are married and have children, I care about them as well. If we have bad habits, most of us do not have a friend who cares enough about us to let us know. In most cases, they either have the same habits or do not wish to hurt our feelings. Just know that I care about you and want the best for you. Blessings, my friend.

—(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)