The Secret Reason Why He Kept Stealing

It was a busy Saturday. I saw him take out cash – about $80 – from the register and shove it under his belt buckle.

On the side he had the receipt for that $80 dollar purchase.

Few minutes after he would walk about and hide the cash somewhere.

Afterwards, he would “return” the purchase with the receipt in the system and eliminate any traceback.

Who knows how long he had been doing it for but it was certainly terrifying to witness a crime.

Being an avid reader of batman comics, I noticed that every criminal had an inner-motivation to do bad things. For example, electro just wanted to steal money to fix himself.

Of Course, I tried to be batman and save the day but I did nothing other than run away…

Ironically, later that day I was told that he is the same person who will be training me for next 7 days.

Fast forwarding, on the 6th day after we become good friends. I asked him why he was doing it and BAM….

“I have been working here for 15+ years! They don’t give me a raise, took away my benefits … I deserve this”

That day I truly realized the power of inner-motivations for good and evil.

Hitler (evil) vs Nikola Tesla (good). Hitler’s inner-motivation led him to do acts that stained humanity forever. Tesla’s inner-motivation led him to do acts so outstanding that scientists are still catching up to his advanced theories.

Its fascinating the stories we tell ourselves to justify the acts we do. Its equally scary how criminals (kill and steal) telling themselves similar stories. Luckily, there are people with noble intentions  as well to make the world work.

What stories are you telling yourself?