EG & Baloo....
A fascinating spin. We DON'T know who is underneath, what the real
content of their personality inventory is, do we?
And so we PROJECT who we WANT to be there,and make our decisions
accordingly.Often time I (as are we all) taken aback by an extraordinarily
hard sales push.No offense,many make their living in sales and it is an
honorable and necessary societal function. But the perennial "Would I lie
to you" occasionally appears as a nuclear adjunct to the usual 'dance'.
Some find it rude to reply: " I met you 3 minutes ago----how could I
possibly be expected to vouch for your honesty/character?"
It's truthful,but considered unfair in the 'dance hall'.
It's not.The truest thing I have found in life is: the best predictor of future
performance is past performance.Depending on their circumstances,people have
very valid reasons to love that fact or hate it.
We don't know WHO they are,or were,or will (or won't)be.My deepest and most
closely held belief is that the addict I cared about was deeply scarred by
unspeakable events within her own family as her very personality was forming.
Quite by accident she volunteered data that (to put it mildly) made my blood
run cold.How to put this as euphemistically as possible?......No.......I'm not even
going to allude to it.Suffice to say when it was dropped into casual conversation
I knew in the space of a hummingbirds wingbeat just HOW far out of my depth
I was.......and that I had no competence,wish,or reason to do anything but initiate
emergency egress from dark places I do not belong.
Three time violent convicted felon......but a heart of gold? Think again.
The most dangerous thing a human being can do is ignore reality.I did it and it was a very,
very dangerous thing to do. That I navigated it to conclusion without serious life damage is
temptation to pat myself on the back----and a trap laid by fate for the egotistical.
I was lucky.That's it.
The race does not always go to the swift......but that's the way to bet.That the house
of addiction always wins is a tenet without exception.That house is not my friend-----I am
a working man with a fantastic wife,life,family,and future.
But in summary, we don't really KNOW what's in Pandora's box before we open
it,do we? That therein lies a heart of gold is indeed a possibility-
---like winning the lotto.
Fun if it happens,but don't plan on doing it for a living.