What Are Five Lessons You Can Learn From Cheating?

“Cheating has one important lesson to teach us: there are no guarantees that it will work so choose at your own risk.” -Michael J. Fite

Keep this in mind whenever you are wondering is it worth it to cheat.

Cheating is a very big deal with serious consequences that can be good or bad. In order to understand cheating, we will take a look at the following four questions:

1. What does it mean to cheat?

2. What are three reasons why people choose to cheat?

3. Does cheating really work?

4. What are five lessons you can learn from cheating?

Now that we have the questions, let’s find the answers!

What does it mean to cheat?

Merriam-Webster defines cheat in the following ways:

1. To break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something.

2. To take something from (someone) by lying or breaking a rule.

3. To prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get.

When you look the word cheat, it is all about the shortcuts, loopholes, and secrets people use to either get ahead, gain an unfair advantage, or stop/hurt a person.

What are three reasons why people choose to cheat?

This answer can vary from person to person depending on the situation. Using the definitions, I will give a few reason why people cheat.

1. To break a rule or law.

   • For some people, they feel that certain rules and laws are too strict or hard to follow.
   • When a person breaks a rule or law, he or she is bypassing the protocols and instructions that are meant to keep them safe and secured.
   • This can lead a person to believe that certain laws and rules do not apply, and that they can break more rules and laws in the future.

2. To take something from someone by lying.

   • For some people, they feel that lying will allow for them to fool other people into believing them and getting whatever they want.
   • When a person lies in order to get something, he or she is abusing the generosity and trust of other people without any concern over the damage that they could be causing.
   • This can lead a person to damage relationships, lose respect among other people, and get into some legal trouble.

3. To prevent someone from having something he or she deserves or expects to get.

   • For some people, they feel that withholding a gift or reward from someone when it has already been deserved will make a person work even harder for it.
   • When a person prevents another person from having what they deserve, they cheat the person out of what they truly deserve.
   • This can lead to resentment, negativity, and lack of desire to try from people simply because a person feels that they have not truly earned what they have already worked for.

When you put all of this together, you will find that when a person chooses to cheat, they are cheating for a purpose.

Does cheating really work?

This answer varies from person to person. For some, cheating has proven to be beneficial because they managed to find success through taking shortcuts. For others, cheating has proven to be harmful because of the negative consequences that came from their decision to cheat. It comes back to two simple questions:

1. Did it work?

2. Did you get caught?

If the answers to both are yes, then it worked in your favor. If the answers to both are no, then obviously, it did not work in your favor. If the answers are mixed (yes and no), then you have to do some weighing and analysis of the situation to see if you consider the cheating to either benefited or harmed you.

What are five lessons you can learn from cheating?

Cheating can teach us a lot about ourselves and each other. Here are few things that we learn from cheating:

1. Everyone cheats at something or something.

   • Everyone has something or something that they either has cheated, is cheating, or will cheat in life.
   • Whether it is breaking a rule, gaining an unfair advantage, or even withholding something, there is a very good chance that everyone you know have cheated at something at least once in their life, whether they know it or not.

2. If a person chooses to cheat, it is because he or she ultimately made the choice himself or herself.

   • Although you may have influences around you that may encourage cheating, the actual decision to commit the act of cheating in your life is yours to make.
   • If you choose the commit the act of cheating, YOU will be the primary person who must take and accept responsibility.

3. Cheating does come with a price.

   • When you cheat, the price that it can cost you can depend on if you get caught or not.
   • In either case, when one person cheats to gain an advantage, everyone who is involved or affected will have to pay physically or emotionally.

4. Cheating is considered harmless until the person cheating becomes cheated.

   • You will find that people will consider cheating harmless until they become the victim and become negatively impacted by the cheating.
   • When the cheater becomes cheated, there is no avoiding the pain or consequences that are coming his or her way.

5. Cheating is like gambling at the casino.

   • When people cheat and experience positive results, they keep on doing it until they either start losing or lose everything.
   • Just like Russian Roulette, cheating does not always promise success, so understand the risks before you attempt to play the game.

I encourage you to look at the last time you witnessed cheating in your life. Whether it was your or someone else who did the cheating, reflect on the actions and the results of the cheating. You find that the cheat you were apart of not only affected you, but it also affected everyone else involved. There is no guarantee that cheating will work in any  scenario, so anyone chooses to cheat, they are accept this warning, the risks, and consequences that come with it. Let’s remember that cheating may feel good when it goes your way, but it can also feel bad when it does not go your way.

I have five questions to ask in which I would love for you to give some thought. Feel free to answer and comment below:

1. Have you ever cheated on someone or something?

2. Have you ever been cheated upon by someone?

3. What was the cheating?

4. How was everyone involved affected by the cheating?

5. What would you tell someone who is considering cheating on someone or something?

Your answers and comments can help yourself or someone else understand that cheating does come with risks involved, and that once you make the decision to cheat, it does affect everyone around you.