Sparks

Yesterday's quote was prompted by a friends facebook post.  It's one of my favorite quotes, easily in the top ten. For those of you who missed it: It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it.~ Ben Franklin

It just gives me a visual for a feeling (or is it an impulse?)  One spark can fan into a fire. A spark is easily extinguished, a fire not so much.  The more sparks you allow, the more fire is created.  The more fire, the higher the difficulty in containing all the sparks.

Temptation is a spark.

Here's the thing: how do you define temptation?  Is it physical? spiritual? mental?   The actual definition is this:

temptation

noun

1. the act of tempting;  enticement or allurement.

2. something that tempts,  entices, or allures.

3. the fact or state of being tempted,  especially to evil.

 

Temptation is actually all of the above listed.  Temptation is the urge to feel, taste, hear, see.  It's also a need. It is also a feeling. It's complicated and complicating.

 

It is the urge to take that bite of cupcake, that drink of alcohol, that first inhale, or that first touch  It is the urge to say the negative thing instead of the positive. It is the need to buy that new sparkly instead of save.  It is the urge to fight instead of pacify.

 

We encounter temptation every day.  Some days it is intense, others it is subtle.  Along that same line, sometimes giving into temptation is harmless. Have that cupcake, but exercise later.  Other times, it is devastating.  Allow that touch or take that first hit and life as you know it is all over with.

 

Temptation is a spark.  It's all about how you control it. It can momentarily light a room or it can burn it down.