Short sighted? You may need more than just glasses

(¹ The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel)

for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, 
 doing what is right and just and fair
Proverbs 1:3

Life provides us with endless choices, challenges and opportunities.  Your view on life will affect your response to each of these.  Are you self focused and short sighted?  Is taking the easy way out your most common response?

This verse provides us with a choice, an opportunity.  The wisdom that is contained within the proverbs can be used to live a life doing what is right, just and fair.  Most of us would wish this to be said of how we lived our lives. The first part of the verse gives insight into what is required to achieve this.

Discipline is a word that makes most of us cringe. The association with punishment as a kid rings true for me.  The thing that I have come to realise is that nothing great can be achieved without perseverance and discipline.  This is what keeps you focused when you feel down, it gets you out of bed when all you want to do is sleep.  The ability to create good habits will help you overcome the emotional ups and downs.  Consistency over long periods of time will always out perform a one hit wonder.

Prudence:  Acting with or showing care and thought for the future (I had to look it up).  This means giving up the opportunity to cut corners and choosing to persist with hard work to achieve the long term gains.  The greatest achievements can take place over multiple generations, the pay-off may never be seen in your life time.  Now that kind of success takes prudence and discipline.

Seek to live a life doing what is right and just and fair.  Seek first wisdom and embrace discipline, making prudent choices with each step along the way.