Be Wise, Do Good, Live Free: Random Advice for the Best Kind of Life

Today, you stand at a crossroads. In front of you, paths branch out in every direction. Some are narrow, lead uphill, and wind away into dense woods only a few yards from where you stand. Others are wide, smooth, and run slightly downhill to what seem to be pleasant valleys.

But which lead to a life that is wise, good, and free, and which will take you to hell on earth (and maybe beyond)? You certainly can't tell from where you stand. And you can't stay here, you have to keep moving. What should you do? How should you choose?

Do not necessarily take the path with the most footsteps on it-although that is no reason to reject it. There may be a very good reason it is the path less chosen. And do not just "follow your heart," or whatever bad advice you've picked up from movies or song lyrics.

You will will have to trust and use your map, even when it seems to lead you in directions you might not have guessed or chosen. Your map is the accumulated experience of those who have come this way before you. It is the lessons they learned-and paid for-in blood. It is told in their stories, and written in their books. It is the wealth of the generations. This book is part of that map.

Be wise, do good, and live free.