The Devil made me do it.
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Temptation. I cannot
think of any living person that has not had to deal with temptation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with
temptation. It’s a natural force behind
our desires, and the reason (say the Buddhist) of our suffering. Of course there are many religious people
that will tell you temptation will lead you onto a road of sin. That may or may not be true, it depends on
your faith.
One thing is for certain you cannot get away so easily from
temptation. “Do I go back to the buffet
for seconds (or maybe even THIRDS?!)”, “do I skip on my gym routine because I’m
just way to tired?”, “do I enter into an illicit affair even though my partner
still loves me?”. Obviously there are
different levels of temptation that operate on different levels of
morality. Hopefully there are some
temptations we will never have to face.
But what of those temptations that we do have to face? How do we get away from them? The most effective way to avoid temptation is
to have an inspired goal. If you are
shooting for something that you truly are inspired and care about, temptation
is far less then normal (if at all).
When you first fall in love, are you tempted to go out with other
people? Not likely; if you are then I’d
say you are not in love. When you are
working on that special project that will finally gain you some recognition
from superiors; are you tempted to leave it behind for some immediate
gratification? Because that is what
temptation is after all isn’t it – immediate gratification. We live in a quick stop, disposable world
these days. Fast food, fast cars,
express lane, fast photo, express check out; everyone wants you in and out as
fast as possible, because that is what everyone has come to expect. You want a sure fire way to deal with
temptation? SLOW DOWN!
Bright Blessings ~ Richard