BEING BAD

You know that feeling : You are surrounded by a lot of ‘Bad People’ who are doing extremely well in life, 

But you - --you with  your strict moral codes, good behavior, conscience which keeps knocking you before you even do anything - -- you’re living from being broke to little salary to a little-above-average salary to barely-okay savings, hoping for the day when it would ‘all make sense’, when you can finally break through, “when will I start living the way I want, not the way I must?” You keep wondering.

I’ve been there many times over –and counting. I’ve been in that place where I ask “what’s the use of being good all the time, holding on to morals, when a lot of people I see around me don’t care about morals and are having the best time of their lives, living wealthy, living large?!”

There are times I’ve been tempted to just go ahead and do something crazy, something out-of-character, something maybe naughty, something I know will guarantee me money, plenty of it. So finally no more tight budget! No more reminding myself to spend wisely! No more telling myself to do the right thing! No more getting up and walking away (emotionally and physically) when the temptation becomes too much! I mean, wouldn’t that just be fun?  To just leave principles and do WHATEVER! Right?...*Deep Sigh*

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not Lil Miss Perfect with the constantly best behavior. Trust me, I’ve had days when I say to myself, in shame,   “Shite! Was that you? Did you just do that? You know that wasn’t right, yet you did it anyway”  But later I deal with it, repent if needed,  and move on. So I’m not saying I’m good all the time. Who is?

All I’m saying is that as much as the world I live in today, through every media; Print, electronics, through every technology, through every encouraged (and often rewarded) negative behavior, screams in my face “Come on Girl, what are you waiting for?! Just do it, no one cares but you! Stop being old-fashioned and uptight!”  As much as I hear that in every way possible, what makes me walk away from the alluring temptation of ‘being bad’? are these questions that nag me:

• ·         WHAT WILL JESUS THINK? (WWJT)     
• ·         WILL I BE ABLE TO LOOK MYSELF IN THE MIRROR TOMORROW?
• ·         WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, WHO WOULD I HAVE BECOME? Or just someone who did whatever to ‘get stuff’?

I know it might be easy to just sneer and convince oneself that it doesn’t matter. As long as there’s money in the bank and all the ‘important people’ are one’s friend, then it doesn’t matter. But it does Mes Amis, it does.  

I’m so grateful to God for my work which allows me travel from place to place, I have met people across cultures and ethnicities who have shared stories with me of losing pieces of themselves  until there was almost nothing left (I’m talking emotionally, the important parts, the parts you can’t touch or see), because they were tired of waiting and wanted to own the world now. Often times, some of them still have all that money, a lot of it, and maybe still hold sway in many circles. But at the end, the money no longer brought joy, happiness, even contentment to them. No peace for the soul. They actually envied my own life and wish they could go back and re-do a lot of things.

And that’s where I’m coming to:

 You can have it all in this world and still not have it at all.     CAUTION!!

Money, Power, Fame, The 'Right' friends? Great stuff, and with a lot of ‘smart moves’ and solid cash, very possible to have.

Joy, Happiness, Integrity, Real people around you, Peace, Contentment, True love, Self control? Great stuff too, but no amount of money can buy these. Even if you drain Bill Gates’ bank account. They are never for sale, you either have them or you don’t.

Understand something, I’m not one of those that preach “It’s okay to suffer in life, your reward is in Heaven”  NO WAY! I want to enjoy this God-given life and I know I’ll also absolutely enjoy the Hereafter by His grace. Here on Earth, I want to be wealthy, influential, live a great, fun life and leave a strong legacy behind.  And by God’s grace, that will soon be my reality (and I pray this prayer for you too Darlings!) AMEN.

 But I want to go about this life the right way, even if the journey is tough, I know the destination to greatness, through God’s guidance and leading, will well be worth it.

• ·         I don’t want to lose myself because I’m running after wealth and fame.
• ·         I don’t want to lose the essence of who I am, who I was created to be, because I desperately want to ‘make it’.
• ·         I want to be able to look at myself, after all is said and done, and still recognize the girl staring back at me in the mirror. I want to have that sense of pride in myself.

•         So ask yourself this; Being Bad, is it truly worth it? Read this post, then read it again darlings. Think on it deeply.  God is trying to caution us on something.  

The pathway to happiness shouldn’t be littered with a corpse of ‘The-person-of-integrity-you-used-to-be’.  

Let’s take new steps this October (You and I together) and have the most amazing of months.

I love ya! But God loves you more!

Cheers to great decisions and new beginnings!