Too Far

How do you know when you've gone too far?

Stephen Tulloch plays for the Detroit Lions and managed to end his season this past Sunday from his own mistake. He sacked Aaron Rodgers and enthusiastically celebrated his somewhat routine play by demonstratively jumping up in the air. Unfortunately for him, he tore his ACL when he landed and will now have reconstructive surgery and miss the rest of the year. I'm sure he's frustrated at suffering such a serious injury stemming from his own over-excessive celebration.

I actually feel pretty badly for Stephen. While I haven't suffered a physical injury from a foolish reaction, I have certainly caused damage by going too far in other ways. I've allowed my mouth to get out of control and hurt others in the spirit of "being funny". I've let my emotions get the better of me when circumstances were changing. I've done some foolish things that have (un)intentionally afflicted people that I care about. I've made ridiculous decisions that have had negative short-term and long-term consequences as well. 

We all have the opportunity to avoid these types of decisions. Will we learn from the mistakes of others and avoid inflicting damage or will we foolishly decide that we need to experience the pain for ourselves? Sometimes it's a blending of both that teach us the best lessons, but I would much prefer to let someone else be the example I can learn from.