judgement

Fool Me Twice – Moral Crusader

Lopez smiled. “Perhaps. We’ll look into it. But in the meantime, please don’t do anything to antagonize the guy. Men like that—you’ve gotta be careful. They can be dangerous.”

 

“What do you mean, men like that?”

 

My boss leaned over his desk, eyes narrowing. “Well, like, this morning, for example. One minute he’s quoting Bible verses, and the next minute he’s hitting on my secretary.”

 

My eyes widened. “Tamera?”

Crime Fiction Thriller - the Moral Crusader - Self-Righteous - Paddy's Parole Officer

He nodded. Then he told me something that was to stay with me over the coming months. “I’ve seen his type before,” he said. “Usually, they’re hiding something. When you see a moral crusader like that, a lot of times, underneath all that Bible-thumping exterior, you’ll find a rotten core. Sometimes, self-righteousness is just a smokescreen.”

 

“A smokescreen?”

 

“Yeah. You know, like to divert attention away from themselves. Like they’re hiding a defect or fault they don’t want you to see. What better way to hide it than to project it onto someone else.”

 

I nodded. “He could even be a serial killer, huh?”

 

Lopez chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far. More than likely, he’s just your garden-variety hypocrite. The only time people like that are dangerous is when they’ve got a little authority.”

 

I winced. “Jeez, Mr Lopez, that’s not very comforting.”

 

I sat back and let his words sink in. Maybe he was right. Maybe it wasn’t personal after all between Beasley and I. Perhaps he was just projecting his own weaknesses onto me. Then again, who the fuck cared? Why even waste my time trying to psychoanalyze the guy? The important thing was to get out from underneath the thumb of this petty tyrant before it was too late.

 

Something told me my time was running out.

A State of Mind

Whenever we get offended by a character flaw in another person, it usually means we ourselves have a similar problem. And if we can so easily excuse ourselves, why not then excuse another?

Getting angry at humans for being human is akin to getting angry at a river for flowing downhill. It is in the nature of humans to have flaws.

Choosing your mindset - state of mind - making the choice to be happy.

To get upset or resent such things is a waste of precious time.

 

And we have so little of that already. Would a little character flaw in another person distress you so much if you had a terminal disease?

 

Whether you realize it or not, we’re all suffering from the terminal disease of life.

 

No matter how young or old we are, we are all already in the process of dying.

 

So why distress yourself over that which you cannot control or be held responsible for?

 

Remember always, if a person or thing is distressing you, it is not the person, it is not the thing, that is distressing you. Can a person climb inside your head and make you feel bad or upset?

 

Rather, it is your judgement about the person or thing that is distressing you.

 

And right this minute, if you so choose, you can decide that whoever or whatever is bothering you isn’t so bad after all.

 

My father used to yell at me to turn down my loud rock music. “You’re killing me with that horrible crap!” he would claim.

 

But if loud rock music really was “horrible crap”, no one would ever purchase the music, or go to rock concerts. It was my father’s judgement about the music that was distressing him.

 

Let us never stop reminding ourselves – it’s up to me in this very moment whether or not I am happy, sad, or disturbed.

 

What I choose to focus on, and how I judge it, determines my state of mind.