Cheating is something we want to avoid unless the Grim Reaper's involved.
We're taught in school to do our own work so we can be judged on our personal merits. Cheating, we're told, is shameful. We're the ones that lose. But, what exactly is cheating?
Is it a cheat when we take a shortcut? When we figure out a better way?
The dictionary defines it as "acting dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, especially in a game or examination".
Is it unfair or dishonest if we're a lot smarter than the others in the class? Certainly unfair but I don't think dishonest unless we're playing the role of hayseed.
But however we want to label the word the one person we do not want to cheat is us. If we're pining for something but worried what others would think or frightened we're not good enough—not deserving enough—then I say to that balderdash.
You are the last person in the world to cheat and you're the only person capable of determining if what you're planning is or is not a cheat.
You're worth it.
