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It seems to me like the ability to consistently make good choices in life is a skill like anything else. It encompasses not just avoiding bad habits like booze, tobacco, etc. but also other situations, such as keeping people in your life who are destructive to you.
Do I understand this correctly? How do you develop this skill and learn to make choices which are good, and contribute to your welfare? It seems to be the essense of success, no matter which direction you want to go in.
One of the things that has helped me consider things more clearly and make more thought out decisions is a book written by Wu Wei called The iching ( pronounced; yee jing) It is a book of ancient chinese proverbs that have been translated by Mr. Wei. It makes for quite interesting reading, I highly reccommend it.
You must understand that some things you do might make you feel good in the short term- but that you are sacrificing what you could have down the road.
As long as you are aware you are making these choices, then at least you can be in control.
Experience is usually the best teacher, but sometimes the lessons are expensive and as mentioned, commonsense is always a big plus, but there is not a lot of that left, most of it being used up on the previous generations. A good moral upbringing usually helps, and often improves the odds of folks being able to better distinguish between good and bad.
A good person, by himself will usually not get into too much trouble, but when friends are involved, peer pressure, you cease being yourself and try to be what you think others expect or want you to be.
My recommendation would be to be strong, be yourself and pick your friends wisely.
Mark Twain said " when he was 14 he had the dumbest old man in the world, and when he turned 16, he was amazed at how much the old man had learned in 2 years".
I agree that experience is the best teacher. Also, I have known many who were intelligent but were not smart. Common sense is like a muscle that needs to be developed with use. My advise to the young is learn to lead yourself and not be a habitual follower, and remember that a closed mind is like a closed fist - not in a position to receive anything. Of course, core values, including morals, are necessary.
"There are some things in life that cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the simplest things and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly."