Give Me a Boogeyman Anyday....

Some things never change. Like some people and bitterness. Kind of scary really, how many people are out there, hating, manipulating. Ugly planning people who can't let go of anger or hatred. Well, there but for the grace of God, I suppose. I could easily have stayed on that road. I've tripped down it, a couple of times, but I thank God that He/She just keeps bringing me on back. Strategically, that almighty power keeps putting people and events in my path that remind me, ugly is just not the road you want to choose, if you don't want to end up screwing up yourself and everyone else around you. Scarier still, some of those messed-up people have kids! And they visit their ugliness on them! Poor things. All they see is mom or dad, someone whom they trust, guiding them, teaching them, providing for them. They don't see the truth, often until it's much too late to undo the harm that's been done to them. Most do, but they're scarred and messed-up themselves by that point. Yeesh. No wonder our society continues to be in such peril.

It's too bad really that there isn't some way of establishing a government methodology for measuring the "screwed-up'ness" a parent is visiting on their child/children, apart from obvious physical or mental/emotional abuse. Of course, if there were, then the government would be responsible for removing those children from the custody of that parent, and now who will look after them? Perhaps stopping the various credits, etc. that some parents receive across the country? Nah. That'd just make for an even more bitter parent, who then visits more crap on their children, only now, more surreptitiously. Sigh. Let's face it. I don't have the answers. I don't know if anyone does. Wouldn't it be nice though if each of these twits got some serious wake-up call, some epiphany that just screamed "hey! change your attitude, man, or the boogeyman's gonna get ya'!" or something equally as eloquent and effective.

See, this is where true spirituality comes in. No, I don't mean rules and dogma. I mean true, honest to God, spirituality and conversion. Maybe people have to truly believe there's a "boogeyman" in order to have some reason to choose "good" over "evil"; "forgiveness" over "vengefulness"; "love" over "hate." It's sad but most don't accept there's a real reason to choose the light, if there's nothing in it for them. Anger and hatred, for some people, are the fuel that lights their fires; the energy that helps them continue. Again, scary, but I cannot emphasize enough how true this is. I see it. Boy, do I see it!

Don't get me wrong! Choosing the light over the darkness is a step-by-step, day-by-day, long and often VERY painful journey. But this is what Siddhartha, Jesus, and all of the Great Creator's prophets meant when they taught, in their own inimitable ways, that we must die to ourselves, in order to become light, or like God. Those yearnings for revenge, that fulfill our egotistical needs to "win" or to be superior, that keep us tied in hateful attitudes will not EVER grant us true peace. No way, no how. Science can even back that up, if you care to take a look. Really.

Still, I wish them well. I mean, someone has to, don't they? Think about it: you're a manipulator, angry, lying and filled with revenge. Who're you hurting? Yourself and those closest to you. One day, and probably soon, those around are gonna figure out that all you are is a sham. That you have lied to them consistently over the years, in order to get what you want, whether it be that they fulfill a need in you, or that they've helped you exact retribution for a long-past wrong. When they figure it out... well... let's just say that they will finally see you for the personality disorder you are, and they are going to feel nothing but betrayal. Hitting them, square in the face will be the reality that their entire relationship with you has been a lie. Wow. I wouldn't want to be you then. They say revenge is sweet, and perhaps it is, for a very short moment. Your life however is a helluva lot longer, and it's gonna seem longer still, and far more empty, when everything you ever had just gets up one day and says "to hell with you and your shit!"

As I said, I wish them well. When it all comes crashing down, no one else is gonna.