Forbidden Fruit

"While forbidden fruit is said to taste sweeter, it usually spoils faster." - Abigail Van Buren, columnist

The advice column by "Dear Abby" always seemed to get my attention years ago. I was amazed at some of the things people wrote about to her. Forbidden fruit was always a topic that got a lot of strong responses. This quote seems to pointing out something that most people don't think about when they are enjoying the "sweet taste" of that "forbidden fruit". Human nature can be complicated.

I've often thought about my life and the choices I've made over the years. I haven't always made the wisest of decisions. There have been times when I've chosen "forbidden fruit" even though that was not the right thing to do. I'm not perfect - I've allowed my ego to get in the way many times and I have paid a price for those choices. I'm not proud of this, but I promised myself that I would be honest in my writings. I don't have to go into all of the details, but whether it was over love or money or popularity or valuable possessions, the goal was always the same - I wanted to experience instant gratification because I somehow felt I was missing out on something. I was jealous at times of people who appeared to have more than I did and I would covet those things. Honesty and doing the right thing wasn't always a top priority in my life, I'm sorry to say.

The good news is that I've had a significant shift in my thinking. Although I'm far from perfect, I now do my best to choose wisely when it comes to deciding what it is I want to bring into my life. It is actually easier to live this way - by doing the next right thing throughout each day, I've taken a lot of pressure off of myself. I don't have to worry about covering up for selfish choices anymore nor do I have to remember which lie I told to which person. Again, I'm not perfect and there is still plenty of room for improvement, but the progress I've made has been significant. Thank you God for helping me to make that progress. I couldn't do it without God's grace. I'm eternally grateful.