Be aware that con-artists are real...
These days it has become so unfortunately apparent to me that words mean nothing. That people aren't always who they appear to be, or who they claim to be, that they can be truly fake and pretend to be so many things that they are not... a con-artist is a real thing. I have learned that people can lie so much for their own personal gain and that mental illness is real and effects people who on the surface can make themselves appear pretty normal, as if they are the victim when really, they are the ones who spend everyday victimizing others.
I recently stood in front of a person who lied to my face knowing all the while that we both knew the truth. It was one of the scariest things I have ever seen with my own eyes. A blank stare...eyes cold as ice...no emotion what so ever. Just a shell of a person, so far removed from what they had done that even they couldn't and didn't believe their own awful actions. Scary.
It is so important as a kind and trusting person to recognize and protect yourself and the ones we love (especially children) from those that inflict emotional and physical pain without any remorse. I have always thought that when people need help and seek it that they can be helped and healed. I have always strived to see the best in people, to realize people make mistakes and that they would strive to be better if we could get them to understand that what they were doing was wrong. It isn't until recently that I learned how much of that is untrue. These evil, troubled people are incapable of facing their demons because they are able to lie to themselves so much and they believe their own lies. They are able to lie, cheat and deceive others all day and sleep well at night...no conscience what so ever. Running from themselves to others instead of facing themselves and dealing. This is a person with no moral courage... they don't know what brave is, they are weak, and a coward.
They feel power when they hurt others. And when they know they have hurt you, that puts them in control to console you, to try and make you feel better, even capable to say sorry when they don't mean it and fully plan to continue to hurt you in the future and have no plans to change their ways. They hurt others than take control to act to console you when they are the ones who put you in pain... how sick is that! These are far from normal, very sick people.
Just sharing to try and prevent others from falling prey to awful people in this wonderful world. This type of person is a predator, they don't care who you are, they just don't want to be alone.
Below is what moral courage is about... If the person you are with is quick to fast track their way into your life it isn't that they are just so smitten with you, they are trying to put themselves in control. Tread carefully. Red flags are a real thing and can save you years of heart ache. Be careful of someone who's only plan in life is to interject themselves into you dreams and plans.
These people are losers and users!
XO
Celeste
Courage is a highly admired virtue. Most often we associate the word with physical prowess or bravery. But there's another form of valor that's much more important because it comes up more often.
It's called moral courage - the willingness to face not physical danger but emotional pain, disapproval, financial insecurity, or uncertainty rather than compromise an ethical principle.
Moral courage is essential not only for a virtuous life, but a happy one. Without courage, we have no control over our lives. Our fears corrode our spirit and confine us like a barbed wire fence.
That's why they say "A coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man but one."
Integrity is essential to self-esteem and the admiration of others. It requires us to put our comforts, possessions, friendships, and even jobs at risk in the defense of deeply held principles.
This takes guts!
It takes moral fortitude to be honest at the risk of ridicule, rejection, or retaliation or when doing so may jeopardize our income or career. It takes boldness to be accountable and own up to mistakes when doing so may get us in trouble. It takes backbone to stand tough with our kids when doing so may cost us their affection.
Mark Twain said, "Courage is not the absence of fear but the resistance of fear, the mastery of fear." To paraphrase President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the enemy is not what we fear; it is fear itself. If our insecurities and anxieties cause us to lose confidence in the power of virtue, we will lose something very precious.
People with moral courage rarely get medals, but it is the best marker of true character and a virtue others can be proud of.
Author ~ Michael Josephson
www.charactercounts.org
"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically - to say 'no' to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside. The enemy of the 'best' is often the 'good.'" ~Stephen Covey
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