Have you ever had someone cheat you out of something? This process can take on many forms. Maybe someone promised to do something for you for a price, you paid, but they never delivered. Maybe you were told something was a something, you bought it, and it was not. Maybe just someone lied to you to get you to do what they wanted you to do. In all of these cases, that did not feel very good, did it?
 
Now, let’s turn this around. Have you ever cheated anyone? Have you ever lied, deceived, or pulled a sleight of hand to get what you wanted by deceptive means? If you have, you most certainly had your rationalization for what you did and why you did it. But truly, was what you did right or okay?
 
There is a lot of cheating going on in the world. For example… …Well, first of all, let me state, I love Amazon Prime. You can basically order anything, and it will be delivered to your door in a day. Anyway, this one time, I order a pair of New Balance 992 tennis shoes from Amazon. They arrived the next day. I opened the box, and what was in the box was an old used pair of tennis shoes. Obviously, what someone had done was to buy a pair of 992s and then put their old tennis shoes in the box and return them. Amazon being this massive distribution company, doesn’t check all their returns very closely, and this is what happens. The person cheated. They got a new pair of tennis shoes for free. They may have felt great about it. But, with every cheating action some new problem is created, not to mention the karma that is generated.  
 
I’ve watched reports on the news about how people do all kinds of crazy things to cheat Amazon and get their products of free. Do these people feel any guilt about what they do? Probably not. They probably only feel the zeal of Getting Over on the Man, as they used to say.
 
But, is what they are doing right? If any form of cheating happened to them, then, how do they feel?
 
There was one time when I ordered a synthesizer from Amazon. I get the alert on my phone that it had been delivered. I look out the door, nothing. I check my Ring Cam, nada. It has not been delivered. I walk around and looked at my neighbor’s doorways just to see if they left it at the wrong place, but nothing.
 
The thing is, in association with the big delivery vans Amazon uses, they also have people delivering items in their cars, kind of like Door Dash or Uber Eats. My guess is that, this delivery person saw what he or she was delivering and really wanted it. So, they claimed they dropped it off. But, did not. They cheated their boss.  
 
Of course, Amazon made it right, and sent me another synth the next day. Just like they did with the shoes. What they did with the delivery person, I do not know? But, the problem in all this is, the entire world is damaged every time someone does something like this. It sets a whole course of negative events into motion.
 
Speaking of days in the past, which I seem to be doing way too much of late, there used to be this whole counterculture movement for ripping off the government and the big corporations, just to get as much as you could for free. Arguably, the most essential text on this subject was a book titled, Steal This Book, written by Counterculture and Yippie Guru, Abbie Hoffman, and published in 1971.  But, the thing is, look at the life of the people who follow this life path, does anything ever really become good from their doings, what they have done, and whom they have done it to? Sure, maybe in the moment they feel an exhilaration. But, they are not only hurting the system, but themselves in the process. They certainly are not living any Higher Calling or making anyone’s anything any better. Hoffman, eventually took his own life. And, if you look down the road and follow the long path of any of these people who behave in this manner, nothing good ever becomes of them. They do pay the price.
 
So, this is just something to think about as you pass through your Life Time. Sure, we all feel great when we get a good deal. But, getting a good deal is not intentionally cheating someone.
 
So, whether you are thinking about buying something, using it, and then taking it back for a refund, if you are lying or cheating to get something for free, or whatever it is that deep down in your soul you know is not right or righteous, don’t do it.  Just like Right is always Right, Wrong is always Wrong. You know the difference.