Don't Let Ambition Devour You!

I know a guy who should've been VERY successful in life. He had everything he needed to succeed. He is a good marketing agent, smart, outgoing, and he can approach people easily with his confidence and positive aura. Too bad he let his ambition ruin everything he had.

He used to be one of my Dad's agent when Dad became an insurance leader. This guy had a decent house, a decent car, a beautiful wife who was a wonderful seamstress, and two kids. He was pretty tall for an Asian and he had broad shoulders. His voice was so pleasant on the ears and it seemed as if he had the future in his hand.

He moved to a different insurance company and became a leader there, then Dad lost contact with him for a few years. I once had a dress made by his wife (she works from home). She was such a gifted seamstress. Everything was SO neat and tidy and she used the best buttons and everything. Of course that meant that her service cost a lot he he he he he...

Anyway, a few years back he met Dad again. He said that he had resigned from that insurance company because of some problems and they didn't pay him his last salary. Naturally Dad felt sorry for him. He said that he had just started his MLM business, so he asked if my Dad was interested in becoming his downline. Dad said that he wanted to hear more about it. They met and he was hooked right away by his glowing explanation, so he joined him as his downline. After all, he was SO convincing and he had a brand new car as if to testify that he had done well in this MLM business.

Since the MLM paid people in US dollars and Dad didn't have a US dollar bank account, this guy promised Dad that he'd transfer the money to his bank account and then he'd cash it for Dad. Dad agreed.

The first time Dad got payment, he delivered it right to our doorstep. However, the second time around, he was no longer able to be contacted. In fact, he had promised Dad that he would help him find other downlines, but Dad hadn't been able to contact him for some time. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth.

Then Dad found out from another person that the guy had actually twisted the story about the insurance company. He had actually been fired by the company due to something and he OWED the company some money! Dad contacted his wife to ask about his whereabouts, and his wife said that he didn't know where he was and everything was ruined 'coz of his ambition. He had sold their house and rented a bigger house. And since he couldn't pay for his new car (he bought the car on credit), he had to return it. And now everybody kept on calling his wife while he went MIA to ask for their money. She said that she didn't know anymore what to do and she was so confused. And what about his teenage kids who need A LOT of money for their education?

I don't know how his life is like nowadays or where he is, but his story provides a HUGE lesson for me. Ambition is necessary in life and sometimes it's important enough to propel us to "greatness", but beware of it!!! Don't let ambition devour you! Besides, there are far more important things in life than getting a bigger house or buying a more expensive car. I feel so sorry for him and his family. I hope he can get back on the right track and start his life afresh.

On Religion

As we all know, religion doesn't make people better. However, without religions, the situation'll also be the same. At least that's how I think it is. We all have our weaknesses. Even our strengths can be our weaknesses, as well. Our strengths can act like a boomerang against us, especially if we've cultivated them to the extreme.

I've witnessed the so-called religious people (who know more about religious theories than I do) fail to be "religious" in their daily affairs. They can perform religious practices very well and convincingly and they can cite religious verses very well. However, they've failed to follow this rule: love your neighbours just like you love yourself. They love themselves more than they love their neighbours, thus they follow this advice so happily and effectively: the end justifies the means. And when they're done doing that, they think they're so blessed by God, so they praise Him immensely without realizing that they've defiled their own act of worship.

Some others are so twisted in their religious thinking that they think they're the holiest ones. Thus they preach on what they believe in and try to feed it to others without realizing that they're also stained. Everybody's stained! Yet they fail to see the stains all over themselves and they keep on preaching without admitting their own stains.

I have a problem with people who use religion to get what they want. I have a problem with holier-than-thou type of people. I have a problem with people who know a lot about religious theories, but they seem to "forget" morality and ethics. Greed, lust, ambition overrule them. They contort religion to their own liking. They bring shame to their own religions.

However, at the end of this contemplation, I look back upon myself and I find myself stained, as well. Let me just not try to change others, but first change myself. Let me not try too hard to see other people's faults. Let me just realize that humans are humans, thus they're prone to fail when they face temptations. Simply because we have free will to choose and simply because we don't always choose the right thing. Let me learn from my mistakes and forgive others who've done me wrong. Let me live a balanced life, so that I may choose to do the right things every single day for the rest of my life. This is my prayer for me and everybody else. May God help us all.