Thinking twice...

Prefer enduring satisfaction to immediate gratification. Let your reason be supreme rather than spontaneity. Practice the art of testing whether a particular thing is actually good or not. Learn to lean into the greater good rather than reacting from spontaneity. Spontaneity is not a virtue in and of itself.

If some pleasure is promised to you and it seductively calls to you, step back and give yourself time before jumping at it. Dispassionately turn the matter over in your mind. Will this pleasure bring only a momentarily delight, or real, lasting satisfaction. It makes a difference in the quality of our life and the kind of person we become when we learn to distinguish between cheap thrills and what is meaningful and lasting.

If in calmly considering this pleasure, you realize that if you indulge in it you will regret it, abstain and rejoice in your forbearance.

Epictetus

translation by Sharon Lebell