There are plenty of people who aren’t interested in conquering temptation, mainly because they don’t believe that to be tempted to do this or to do that, is a real issue for them. Yet, it is that temptation that is the proximate reason why we get into the sort of trouble that could have been avoided if we had developed the self-control as well as the wisdom to know that giving in to temptation can be a serious mistake that we will often ultimately regret.
While it must be said that part of life, is trying to enjoy our life, and thereby to take in the beauty and the overall experience of that life, we have got to realize intuitively that when we decide that it is our senses that should be the commanders of our life, as contrasted to using our mind and spirit, to recognize that not everything that we think we should indulge in, should actually be indulged in, we would be the wiser for using that sort of discretion, and further to the point, letting our senses to know that we are master of what we do or don’t do.
To believe, somehow, that we can’t control that which tempts us, and to at least take the time to think through clearly as to why we should or should not follow the pathway of a particular temptation, or simply ignore such as being worthy of contemplation, is a serious mistake – for it is a temptation that could well run havoc over our good sensibility so that we end up doing things that we really ought not to do, as well as developing the type of bad habits that are thereby exceedingly difficult to break, especially when they are not only ingrained upon us, but also because we see these bad habits as being part and parcel of our character, and thereby who we believe that we are.
Indeed, it isn’t possible to conquer temptation, if we don’t see it as something worthy of our time, dedication, and effort to conquer. So that, if we want to appreciate better the world and the society that we are a part of, the very first thing that we need to do, is to develop meaningful self-control, or else we will like a child, believe that everything that we like, should be “mine” and only mine; whereas, the truth of the matter is that we need to develop discretion, so that we will properly order what should be the priorities in life, and what we should or should not be doing in our behavior and our interactions with others.
The frustrations and thereby the anger that some of us are prone to, have a lot to do with not getting what we believe that we should have, which has an awful lot in common with giving in to those temptations that we believe that we must indulge in. What we really need, is seldom that which tempts us, but rather is the peace of mind to know that when given the choice between a given temptation and the wisdom to know what we ought to do, we thereupon do the right thing, consistently, and in this, we become conquerors.