I was thinking about how people get themselves in trouble most often. There is a pattern I have seen with clients I’ve coached and counseled over all these years, and I developed a slogan that seems to pretty much sum up what everyone concludes after finally sorting out some rough situation they got themselves into;
“It seemed like a good idea at the time“.
We all come to various “crossroads” at different times in our lives, where our integrity to ourselves gets challenged. In the movie, “The Devil’s Advocate”, the defense lawyer, all of a sudden realizes the pedophile/child molester he is defending is actually guilty. Now he has to decide if he should do his job and get the guy off on a technicality, or allow a conviction and keep this criminal off the streets so he can’t repeat his crimes.
That lawyer’s decision then determines his future later.
The above is an extreme example, but in life, we are faced constantly with lesser instances which challenge our personal integrity. Situations like; changing ourselves to get people to like us, asking for advice because we don’t trust our own convictions, letting fear get in the way of doing the right thing, throwing a friend “under-the-bus” due to an external pressure to do so, failing to fight for what we know is right, minimizing our love for someone or something because someone else doesn’t approve, blowing-off helping someone we know we should help, backing away from defending ourselves or another because it’s dangerous, and so on and so on.
The idea of staying true to yourself is often hard for the short term, but necessary in the long run.
The words Heaven and God are analogous to Freedom and lightness. Hell and Satan are terms which indicate entrapment and darkness. In life, you are your own committee. When you are faced with having to decide whether to stay true to yourself or go along with whatever seems easier at the moment, you’re about to set your future in motion. Are you going toward darkness or light? When we compromise what we know, we actually diminish ourselves and our abilities.
Entrapment. Darkness.
The word, “Karma” means; “The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences“. Giving your decision-making process over to others because it seems less threatening or easier, is handing over your future power. And every time you do that, your power diminishes. And because you now have less power, bad things can happen to you without your ability to fend it off. You become the receipt of what you caused in the first place. Karma.
TAKEAWAY: When faced with a difficult decision, maintain who you are and what you know to be true. It will work out much better for you in the long run.