Getting in Trouble

We don't get in trouble because of what we do. We get in trouble when we do it in spite of reliable warnings and cautions, against all good advice, and in defiance of good common sense. All of us have things that we are obsessive about. We insist and push, or scheme and connive to make sure this thing will happen. Sometimes we do it to prove we are right or to prove someone else is wrong. We may do it when we are angry or afraid. Or we may do it just to prove we can do it.

We may know the behavior is unproductive or inappropriate. We may know it is foolish or dangerous. Still we insist it must be done. That is how we get ourselves in trouble or hurt or embarrassed. In response to what we do, we feel bad, beat up on ourselves, or blame others for making us or letting us do it. Whatever we do, we do it because we need to do it. No matter how foolish, hazardous, or outlandish it may be, it is simply another lesson we must learn in the classroom of life.(Iyanla Vanzant, Faith in the Valley, p. 133)