So you find yourself in a situation in which someone does something out of line...either towards you or someone else. It was wrong. You know it, they know it.

You decide, "if I do or say XYZ, they'll never do it again. That'll teach them a lesson."

Pause for a second...

How can you be sure that you're the one that will make the error of their ways clear to them?

How can you be sure you'll do or say exactly what's needed to open their eyes?

What kind of karma will you rack up by doing so?

We're not talking about revenge here. That's different. That's simply doing what someone did to you or someone else. Or just doing something worse to them. Which, that doesn't work either and is not good for your soul in the long run.

What I'm talking about is taking it upon yourself to hold a mirror up to someone and proceed to tell them what they should be seeing in that mirror. Their eyes could be wide open and they could still be blind to what's in front of them. They may see what you're pointing out but have a different perspective about it. They could turn their head and ignore it. Maybe they aren't ready to see it.

Nothing you say or do can trigger them the right way in order to open their spiritual eyes to their spiritual flaw. So then, you've wasted your time and energy and you've failed your mission.

Only Spirit knows that person inside and out. All of us. So more often than not, it's going to take Spirit interfering to truly reflect to someone else where they went wrong. What their spiritual flaw is. What their mistake was. Or where they're headed if they don't change their ways. It may take Spirit bringing their attention to an aspect or memory of their life that is seemingly unrelated, for the reflection to truly shine through. Something you couldn't have possibly known.

Now, I do realize that Spirit speaks to us through other people at times. I'm not saying that absolutely NO ONE is able to say something to make someone see a new perspective. That happens all the time. A lot of times without the person speaking knowing that they are having such an impact. It is when we take it upon ourselves out of self-righteousness to "teach somebody a lesson" that it begins to lose impact.

This is not to say that we can't give others advice or pull someone to the side and encourage them to contemplate what they've said or done. That is always welcome within reason. However, don't take it upon yourself to be the "teacher" when you see something wrong. It's very likely that karma will soon catch up to them and knock them down harder than you ever could have.

One last thing to consider is how you would have done it. Would you have done it with respect? Without be condescending? Without being judgemental? Is YOUR perspective completely unclouded on the subject? Are you too clsoe to the situation to see clearly or see the bigger picture? If you have even a speck of a flaw yourself, you could approach it wrong. Say or do something unnecessary. Then it'd be YOU who needs to be taught a lesson.

Let Spirit do what only Spirit can do best. Let LIFE do what only LIFE can do best. Don't think of it as them getting away with anything. Think of it as you not getting in the way of them getting what they deserve.

Let people learn their lessons their way.

** I just want to make a disclaimer that in this article I am writing about non-physical situations. If you find yourself in a physically dangerous situation, please DEFEND YOURSLEF OR GET OUT. This also applies to emotionally, mentally, or psychologically destroying relationships. I hope for no one to ever be in such situations, but I also know the world we currently live in, so take measures to remove yourself from such situations as you can. **