The book Illusions, written by Richard Bach, is about a messiah, Donald Shimoda teaching a man named Richard, how to be like him. Shimoda tells Richard that everything in life that he sees, touches, and feels are all illusions. Nothing in this real world was what it seemed, and by concentrating/focusing, he could make anything possible, such as making the nine-sixteenths wrench float in the air, play the guitar without having to learn how, walking on water, and so on. Richard also learned that in life, everyone has a choice to do as he/she wishes, and in order to be free and happy you must sacrifice boredom, which isn't something easy to do.
             When learning that everyone has a choice, Richard first thought, "We are all free to do what we want to do, as long as we don't hurt somebody else." (Page. 137) This was not correct as proven by Shimoda. Everyone has the freedom to do as they wish, including to hurt someone or not. In order to back up what he stated, he uses a vampire as an example to show Richard. The vampire had asked Richard to suck his blood or else he would die, but fearful of the vampire, Richard said no. By saying no, although Richard won't be harmed in anyway, the vampire will be the one getting hurt. This just shows that most people may not see it, but when a decision is made, they [do] sometimes tend to hurt others.
             Sometimes this can be the right choice because in certain situations to avoid hurting another, you can become manipulated. Here's a scenario. Let's say you've decided to leave home for the military; this could really hurt your family and/or friends. But, you want your family and friends to be happy, so you change your decision into staying. From this decision, you would be hurting yourself, which then leads to becoming manipulated by them because now you are not doing what you want to do. You're doing what [they] want you to do. In the end,...