Just don't get caught

Many people dream of success. This can translate into knowing certain rules and determining how to break them without getting caught. Would success for you imply devising strategies to outsmart a particular system and gain a level of satisfaction?

Consider driving. How often do you add pressure on the accelerator when you assume the police aren't watching or speed cameras aren't around? Why does the little voice inside egg you on? If you don't get a ticket, you might sense a feeling of success. If you're caught, you may have a sense of failure, but that wouldn't necessarily discourage you from trying to get away with it again.

Far more people than you might imagine know the commandments and other religious mores. Why is it that confession was invented and some people actually look forward to it regularly? Why is it that retribution is associated with certain behaviors and people avert their gaze or avoid revealing deviance at all costs?  If Higher Forces see everything, should your view of success really matter?

Consider the behavior that characterizes many modern teenagers. Why is it that teens widely seek to rebel against rules that have been set for them? Why do youth come to think its okay to drink, do drugs, have sex or engage in any other behavior which wouldn't be condoned by parents, guardians or law enforcement? The psychology of crime teaches us, do what you can, do what you will, teach yourself what you can, but just don't get caught.

In another sense of success, consider the tables are turned. Why is it honest people may feel they must take 'the long way' around to catch and reprimand a dishonest person? Why should it be cheaper to hire a hit man to knock off an enemy than to pay for legal and other professional costs to bring the person to justice? Society would seem to set itself up to discourage honesty. It makes it seem as if morals are separate from 'getting a job done.' Whether or not success is honorable is not what matters to everyone. A sense of success could be a separate thing from ethics.

Consider another example: why have social assistance programs in some countries evolved to offer more incentive to stay home and do nothing than minimum wage offers people to work? Is success in such a case only a question of money? Some people think success relates to getting as much as they can for as little effort as possible. When they don't wish to be caught taking advantage of the system, would getting caught necessarily undermine a level of success?

The more guilty a person feels about past behavior, the more anxious the person may be to reveal the truth and unlead the burden.  We each have the ability to attract the circumstances that reflect how we feel, even if that happens to be cynical indifference.  

If you wish to arrange the universe to your manner of thinking, then success could mean many different things. When it comes to dreams, it makes sense to reflect a great deal. Whatever you do, just don't get caught. Yet, if and when you're caught, choose to learn from it.  You may get another chance.  Whether you see it as punishment isn't clear.  This may worry you more than you care to express.