by Lisa Mazurek

Created on: May 07, 2007   Last Updated: January 09, 2009

There are so many reasons why a person will steal and most of us were raised not to take from others. We have all been guilty of stealing at least one time in our lives. This could have been stealing from a store, a friend, places of employment, hotel and or a neighbor. Just think back to a time and than ask yourself, why?

People sometimes steal out of hunger or because their kids need clothes, food or maybe for a birthday present. Others may steal because their addicted to drugs. Gamblers may steal because they loose their paychecks and than they have no money for the week. This is desperation but still inexcusable.

You can steal someone's idea or borrow money and not return it. Many times we steal unintentionally but when we realize it we go back and fix it. There are people with mental disorders that steal. These people are constantly taking things and for know apparent reason. You could steal a girl from a guy or a man from his wife. Is this stealing for love? Stealing does not have to be an item.

Stealing is a result of getting something that we feel we need. Is that need a fulfillment of an emotion? If you think about it, our needs are a result of our senses. Our senses are what inspires our needs. Some people will do anything to get what they need and others will do without.

The truth of the matter is most of us steal because we are always trying to get a little more. How many people cheat on their income taxes? Is it stealing? Yes, but no one wants to think of it as stealing. Another form of stealing is using credit cards and maxing them out. This applies if you know you can't pay them off. What about moving into a new apartment and finding out that you can get cable for free because it wasn't disconnected. This is stealing too if you don't inform the company.

Hopefully, after someone does steal something they have a guilty conscious and they return it. If they don't they will continue to steal because they just don't care. They have no respect for other people's property. Maybe this person does not know the value of anything or how hard someone had to work to get that item. Whatever the reason is it doesn't make it right. As for the other ways in which we steal we need to consider this. Is it worth the risk of going to jail or loosing a friend? Will you be able to sleep tonight? Will you be proud of what you did? I think many of us really do care but we don't take the time to think about these questions. The next time you have some doubt about what your doing or feel bad, maybe there is a reason why.

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