Sometimes I feel like Little Red Riding Hood.  She goes for a stroll to grandmother’s house in the woods before dark knowing its ominous, knowing shes alone.  Yet she skips through the woods oblivious to the dangers that hide in the wooded forest. Not only does she run into the big, bad, wolf but she actually is in denial of what he really is.   Always keeping her childlike innocence the entire time, naive to the beast that lurks in front of her.

“Oh, grandmother, what big ears you have!”  “All the better to hear you with.”

“Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!” “All the better to see you with.”

“Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have!” “All the better to grab you with!”

“Oh, grandmother, what a horribly big mouth you have!” “All the better to eat you with!”

Is this what temptation is? Do we sometimes live in denial? Did Red Riding Hood know the wolf was a wolf in her grandmother’s night gown but needed an adrenaline rush? I feel like we all know the right thing to do.  We all know what we want in life, we know  who is right and wrong for us. We know when we are being fooled or used but sometimes we need the big, bad, wolf to put us in our place.  There is a saying I really like,”you cannot feel high if you haven’t been low”. The wolf ate her grandmother and almost ate RED but she escapes.  What a rush she must of felt to have a second chance.  What am I even talking about you may be asking.  I’m talking about temptation.  What is the definition of temptation?  After you read it out loud you may understand better.

Temptation is a fundamental desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment, that threatens long-term goals.

So was little Red Riding Hood trying to seek a thrill knowing that if it were really a wolf she may not live until tomorrow because he may eat her?  Do people who get tempted do it on purpose or a deeper need itching within?  Do they do it to feel something when they are numb?   Have they been just going with the day to day emotions? Think about this: What if you were so numb and you wanted to just feel something electric in your body one final push off the cliff that would make you feel alive again so you could keep going…would you walk in the woods?

We all have burning desires.  Some of us drive fast, some cheat, some get tattoos, some party, some jump out of planes, some gamble, some travel, and some have dark secrets we may never know of.  We are all the same, no one is perfect, that is human. I think every once in awhile we just do something out of character to feel alive again when the world is on our shoulders.   We run into the woods, we wear red capes and play with wolves. I don’t know why we do the things we do but we have a reason to want to feel something to awaken it all.  Well I will leave you with one of my favorite lines from the story.

 

 The wolf said, “You know, my dear, it isn’t safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone.”

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