When I think back at the times I got in trouble most occurred when I gave into some form of temptation.  Being tempted to do something you know is wrong does not end as you get older.  You might walk by a fire alarm and be tempted to pull it just because you know you can.  You have the power to disrupt people and have them flee the building not knowing if it is on fire or not.  You also know should you get caught there are serious consequences.  It is being able to see both the action and the resulting consequence that most often prevents us from making huge mistakes. 

We face temptations just about every day of our lives.  Some temptations we consider too serious to really contemplate but there are lots of little temptations that we have to make a conscious decision whether to give in or not. 

There are people who play on our weaknesses and like to tempt us with deals we just know are too good to be true.  Seniors have been striped of their life’s savings when they have fallen prey to advertisements that offered amazing deals.  Others are easily tempted by their need for greed and there are always people willing to set up situations where people seem to acquire huge amounts of money for very little contribution of time or money on their part.

The temptation can be as small as that donut calling your name or more serious life affecting decisions.  What you have to know is you have the power to make the decision.  Whether it alters how you feel about yourself or how others see you the decision is yours.  Think about it.

                                  Cheryl C. Helynck 

                                           2009