Righteousness could kill you

You may know people who hold rigid beliefs.  You know, they say things like, "do it my way or take the highway!"  Morals will still evolve and change, even if you refuse to consciously see this. People have been known to change their morals or how they apply their beliefs, to suit their situation, especially if they have hidden motives.  Some people say one thing and do another. Since morals are only expressed beliefs, this would make people hypocrites if they behave in ways inconsistent with their beliefs. What would cause these kinds of people to be selectively blind?

Consider that most people hold the basic belief that it's in their interest to be honest.  This is generally understood to be good business practice. Treat your clients well, offer them value in products and services, and they will more likely become returning clients. 

What about the businessman who tells customers he will produce their products on time, at good value, then doesn't do this and cheats clients out of their commissions and other expected services? Through word of mouth, you would think the company reputation would sink and the businessman would lose clients. This cyclical process may take time, but it happens because we attract the same treatment from others that we dish out. Ever hear the phrase, "what goes around, comes around?" 

What about the man who chooses not to pay an employee as a way to punish a business partner for not permitting him to have his own way? In highly-evolved societies, people simply decide to act based on whether they think their efforts or tantrums work or not to get their desired ends. People who hold unresolved feelings create their own logic in other settings. They feel big, but look small.

If your morals shift, and you refuse to admit it and change your ways, you become righteous. If during your life, someone cheated on you and made you feel bad, thinking you can just cheat your clients, peers or employees, isn't an acceptable way to think or even the score. This kind of revenge isn't justice, its more likely the result of misplaced anger and other unresolved emotions brewing or ready to explode.  This kind of righteousness could kill you emotionally, financially or in ways you don't expect. You lose out, period. Nothing to gain, and much to lose. 

Admitting the crux of the matter would mean you can rise above self-righteousness. Do not live today based on past experiences. Learn anything in your possession isn't really a possession.  Ownership of money or things or the view you can control people is a temporary illusion.  

People so easily forget "right" and "wrong" ways of behaving don't exist.  The only things qualified as such depend on whether your efforts to influence how situations unfold produce your desired outcome.  When you consider a feeling or result or event is wrong, this means you didn't get to be, do, or have what you desired.  Deciding what is acceptable or unacceptable simply contributes to or takes away from your sense of constructed happiness. Don't worry. Start again. Life goes on.