Stay above the temptation (#964)

I know how hard it is to not be cynical when everyone else is but that is what must be done, at least for me. It is like I am my own parents, constantly keeping me on the right track. I guess my conscious is in full throttle and there is no going backwards. However, the temptation is always just around the corner and sometimes I know it would be so satisfying to embrace the illusion of the temptation and tell myself how good being really bad is. lol. But I do know better. The fleeting justification is hollow and leaves me afterward with a sense of defeat and dishonor. I refuse to be an accomplice in my own destruction. That is what will happen if I move from what I know to be right and good to that which just makes me "feel" right and good. I have had a past that has taught me about the illusion of temptation. Through trial and error somehow I have survived the consequences. I am not the bitter little person who has no compassion left in his soul. I am not the user and abuser of others who has guilt written over every thought and action. I am just another person who has principles to live by and no intent to harm anyone else at all. As others may come and go in the learning process of life, I can empathize to their struggles as they are hopefully learning the same conclusions from the same types of lessons that have given me my purpose in life. I am not trying to enhance or keep a continual focus on sensory pleasures as a rule, instead I am focusing on sharpening my mind to those things that are instinctually me, curiosity and care. I don't chase the thoughts and actions of cynics and selfish characters, instead I find myself firmly planted in the honorable principles I have found worthy of being.