I can’t even get close to counting the number of times I have pushed temptation somewhere inside me. Be it as trivial as an allurement of opening a surprise package or as sinful as copying in an exam paper.
A few of the instances that come to my mind:
-to devour an ice-cream when I am on my 10081st (most-likely) unsuccessful diet plan
-to abuse someone in the face when my ears hear something squalid
-to tell someone to shut that boasting mouth on hearing some self-blown trumpets
-to call someone just for support in times when I am supposed to stand on my own
-to watch that one episode of friends when I am working towards an assignment deadline
-to make a/few phone calls to swank off my new designer sunglasses
-to cheat someone for my worldly happiness
But such are the ones that I have resisted with difficulty or ease.
What about the ones, we just helplessly and hopelessly give into?
Many such cases are thrown in our direction at every point on life. What do we do about those?
Rely mostly on our impulse to react to those? And yet there are those times, when a lot of rationalization goes into reaction.
Most of the time, giving in to temptation is something we regret later.
(Don’t get me wrong, there have been a few times when giving in to temptation is the best thing I’ve ever done. Like it’s said - Temptation is like a knife that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction)
A misspoken thought, a copied answer, a relished desert – somewhere deep down bother the conscious for a long time. Many have taught, many have preached and there are many who have practiced the art of victory over temptation.
Having said all that, I just don’t seem to get the art right. When I am tempted, I have a split personality. One part of me wants to do it and one wants to refrain. No matter what the cause is, no matter how small or big, no matter how harmful or paltry – it is always a difficult decision to take and always a double edged sword. Mark Twain said - “I deal with temptation by yielding to it” and boyyy… I am totally comfortable with this!!! :)
Don't be a coward - face that temptation !!!
Absolutely right. But the only one who has ever won over temptation will be GOD only. Not even so called saints, preachers, gurus, Maharaj etc. Even they give in to this alluring desire at times. So why run away from it. When the people who have renounced the world and the worldly pleasures can’t get over it then how can we, the mortal human beings run away from it?. Oscar Wilde says,” The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself. And we don’t want to grow sick. Do we?
ReplyDeleteOften the best way to overcome desire is to satisfy it. The only thing before yielding to temptation is to see that it doesn’t harm anyone .Otherwise we will be burdened with double guilt feeling, one of surrendering to our desires and falling in our own eyes and second of causing hurt to someone just to satisfy ourselves