I have been pondering about temptations lately…and what it is like to be tempted. I have come to the conclusion that temptations are way more dangerous in youth because as an adult we tend to pair temptation with consequence. Somehow (luckily), consequence tends to triumph as we mature.

In childhood the curiosity to explore, try, taste, is rarely paired with thinking before acting, thus being constantly tempted by discovery. In adolescence….well, do I need to say anything else other than “hormones”…yep, those little chemicals dial-up the temptation quotient by a 10th to the second power. Early adulthood brings “ I can do anything”, “I can recover from anything”, and that is very true (mostly). But I believe this is when our values begin to check our temptations, and more often than not, we eventually regret deviating from our core values.

Now…perhaps not all temptations are bad, some actually might be quite harmless. It is within us not to suffer from being tempted. Like eating an entire slice of NY cheesecake and not beating yourself up about it, yes you were tempted, yes you went over the cliff…and you enjoyed every teeny tiny morsel. You decide that tomorrow you will cut back on treats and go about your life. Tempted, but you control the consequence.

The problem is when you can’t control the consequence as a result of being tempted. If you are interested in really discovering this paradigm, the superb book by Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym, is a beautiful, mind-twisting read that will leave you thinking: Should I, or shouldn’t I?