I'm Going in for the Kill, I'm Doing it for the Thrill

I've been thinking about rules lately. Rules run our lives even if we think we are above the law; even in the last frontier rules run the state as wild and strong as the moose. It seems everyday some new rule is being enforced to "better" our lives but working in the ticket booth at the center has shown me that people always want to be the exception to the rule. So is it true that winners never cheat and cheaters never win?

For an athlete cheating makes you weak. Cheating means selling yourself short and shaming your name and who ever else you represent. There are times during training, when your muscles burn and your body begs to quit and that moment of weakness speaks up, "that's good enough, no one will know if you end a lap short, or take this short cut," but all great athletes know the difference between a win based on hard work and dedication versus a win fallaciously gained. So what does a great athlete do? They bust ass until they can perform better than their competition, with in the boundary of the rules.   Your everyday person seems to feel differently however.

Every time I work ticket booth, I say the same spiel "we ask that you please do NOT attempt to feed or pet the animals and keep off the enclosures as they are electric" and you know what? I get the same jokes maybe a hundred times a day. Then we walk around the center and see people trying to reach their hands in, or fussing about the interns feeding the moose bananas and why can't they feed them bananas. What's the deal then? Why do so many people assume they can just act-a-fool. All that really comes to mind is this, after the cold cruel world deals you blow after blow you start to think that someone owes you something. You'd do anything to be rebellious and feel alive and in control again; I figure this because there is a stop sign literally two seconds from my house that has me stop at a bogus four-way stop, so what do I do- run it. Yeah it's unsafe and breaking the law but my goodness does it give me thrills. Alright what was I thinking, let's all live lawless and free y'all- YEEHAW. Not! I know I'm about to sound way cliche but I've practiced what I'm about to preach so check it. What's cooler than cheating and breaking rules and that you can actually control? *Jeapordy theme music plays* Your temper! Be like the athlete that uses mind over muscle and wills their body to preserver. You know that song, "I fought the law and the law won"? Well guess what, the law always does win, so instead of trying to "stick it to the man" stick it to your super ego and control your impulses. There may not be a rush of excitement, like that first bite of brownie-sundae Sunday but I promise the long term effects feel much more rewarding, like a jog to Moose Flats after an 11 hour work day. Oh you know what I mean...