We all remember the old adage that “a stitch in time saves nine,” which basically means that it is best to take care of an issue that needs addressing in the here and now, rather than to let such develop into something possibly much more damaging and therefore much worse for us. When it comes to our character, we should keep in mind that a stitch in time saves nine, for the best time to take care of a character flaw is to address it in the immediate, as compared to letting it slide for another day and another time – for plenty of people have those good intentions to correct what so needs to be corrected, but subsequently lose the concentration and the discipline to actually make amends to that which they already recognize as being a problem that needed to be forthrightly addressed.
Indeed, it has to be admitted, that nobody is born evil or is absolutely destined to become evil, for all of us are born free and clear of evil. So then, what we develop into, is in essence, at our volition, so determined by the decisions that we make day by day, for better or for worse. This thus signifies that what so becomes a bad habit, was first of all, not a habit at all, but because we insisted upon doing the same bad thing again and again, it thereby became a habit and because it is now habitual, it is much more difficult for us to correct, even if we have the abiding desire to do so.
This thus indicates that those that become evil, or have developed evil tendencies and habits, don’t just wake up one day, having somehow changed into this persona, but rather, what has typically happened is that they have consistently thought the wrong thoughts and made the wrong decisions, that have thereby developed into something quite toxic for them, as well as for others. In other words, the bad decisions that we make, which may appear to us initially to be of little or no consequence, are the very actions that thereby creates in us, the damage to our outward fashion that requires a needful stitch, but if we do not address this forthrightly, we will inevitably discover that the one stitch so needed to repair such, will begin to inexorably increase to having a need for more than just that one stitch.
The evil that we do, becomes ever worse, if we don’t address what needs to be addressed in order to mitigate such in a timely and direct manner. It is a serious character flaw, when we belittle what we have done that is wrong, as being of no real concern, because it is perceived by us as being no big thing. In truth, it is often those tiny errors of judgment that takes us down a path that is best avoided, because those that believe that little sins and little wrongs, won’t ever add up, are clearly not playing the long game, for repeated errors and bad decisions, are the very basis for why those that aren’t really all that bad at their core, end up becoming quite bad, instead.