Are you living your life in the shade?
No, I don’t mean that you’re sitting under a tree.
Are you shady?
Are you sneaky, deceptive, or taking advantage of people in large or small ways?
You don’t need to answer me, but you should at least give yourself an honest answer.
If you are shady, why is that? Because you feel that somehow the world owes you something? Something for your suffering, for the hard times you’ve lived through?
Let’s start with this…no matter how terrible your life has been, the world owes you nothing. And making other peoples’ lives miserable because of your actions , large or small, explicit or implicit, won’t make your life any better. In fact, it will make your life worse. It devalues your self worth to undetectable levels, no matter how much bravado you express. Because being deceptive and mean-spirited are truly at odds with feeling good about yourself as a person.
Then there’s karma. Perhaps you don’t believe in karma or that some day you will be judged for your choices in this life. But what if there is such a thing? How would your actions be viewed? Are you willing to risk it for your superficial short-term gains?
How would people feel about you if they knew your true intentions and discovered your secretive actions? Would they still think the same of you?
And why do you think it’s OK to hurt people with your actions? To take from others, either in word or deed or in spirit? Imagine how good you might feel if you took the energy that you use to be shady, plus the energy it takes to cover up your shady actions, and used it for good. To help others. To share goodness with others. To bring light into someone else’s life instead of being hurtful and deceptive.
Wouldn’t your world be a better place? Wouldn’t everyone’s world be a better place?
Consider using your talents and energies for good and not evil. Begin to live a life of pure intentions. Not only will you make a difference in the lives of others, but I bet you’ll finally begin to feel good about yourself too.
(If you aren’t shady, please disregard this post.)