Would you rather prefer that sweet delicious chocolate bar, or an organic green lettuce salad? Though having that piece of candy for lunch would probably taste better, your stomach later would say otherwise. Making the right decisions for your food choices (and in life too) can lead to a longer life span and a healthier life.
For example, the candy bar you’re eating is high in fat and sugar, leading to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. While on the other hand, the crisp plain potato salad has nutrients and vitamins vital to your health and can protect your body from chronic diseases. Even if the taste of a green leafy dish is not to your liking, it will always prevail (動詞:壓倒,占上風,占優勢) with its helpful ingredients and vitamins over a box of chocolates containing a harmful (形容詞:有害的)overdose (名詞/動詞:過量) of possible artificial (形容詞:人造) sugars and calories (名詞:卡路里).
This also applies to decisions made in life too, such as trying out smoking for the first time or not even letting a cigarette touch your mouth. Just like the salad and the chocolate each have their own path, but in this case, people who do smoke have an increased chance of certain health risks: heart disease, stroke, and even lung cancer. About 480,000 lives are lost every year in the United States from cigarette smoking, which is nearly one in every five deaths. In fact, smoking causes more deaths than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, firearm-related incidents, and motor vehicle injuries COMBINED. But if you choose not to smoke at all, your entire lifespan and health with be prolonged and stronger when compared to the lifestyle of a smoker who has smoked nonstop.
You can also be tempted to pick the choice everyone else wants you to choose, versus the path you actually want to follow. For instance, all your friends are telling you to bully this kid as it would make you look more “cool”. But in reality, you don’t want to bully them as bullying can get anyone into the principal’s office and the consequences of being suspended. You would say no to your friends, but when under the peer pressure of your friends and in the heat of the moment, you do it anyways. Let’s stop right here. Because of the temptation of being popular (形容詞:廣受歡迎的;流行的), you have put yourself into a sticky (形容詞:悶熱的;黏乎乎的) situation. Just like that, anyone can be moved from the right path to the wrong path without even thinking about it.
Now I bet you’re wondering, “What if I did not have a choice that I was forced to pick the wrong decision?” If that does happen to you, then you must learn how to come back from those wrong choices and try to prevent them from occurring again. If you’re being pressured from your friends to do something wrong, then maybe you need to find a new group of friends. These friends should know your values, and respect them too, because true friends respect each other and don’t force them to do anything they do not want to do.
Making the right decision may be hard, especially when under the effects of others through peer pressure or social media. However, after following the path of the correct choice it be only help you, not hurt you. So when picking between right and wrong, even if the wrong choice would be more exciting and tempting (形容詞:誘人的) , choose the right choice as in the future you and your body will thank you for not contaminating (動詞:污染) it physically and mentally too.
你喜歡有機的綠葉沙拉，還是美味可口的巧克力棒？雖然，把那塊巧克力棒當午餐會較好味，不過，你的胃會有不同的意見。在挑選食物上 (人生也是如此)，作個明智的決定，會讓你擁有更長、更健康的生命。
例如，你所食的那高脂肪、高糖份的糖果棒，會大大提升患心臟病、糖尿病和高血壓的風險。但，另一方面，那清爽、樸素的馬鈴薯沙拉所含的營養和維他命，不但有利於你的健康，更可以保護你，讓你不致患上長期的疾病。縱然，那蔬菜盤並不迎合你的口味，但因為它那有用的維他命和其他成份，相對於那盒包含了人造糖、卡路里等過量有害物質的巧克力棒，還是佔盡上風的。
其實，同一道理也可以應用在生命中其他的決定上，譬如，第一次嘗試抽煙、還是不讓嘴唇接觸到煙枝；就像沙拉和巧克力，雖然各有各路，但，抽煙的人患上心臓病、中風，甚至肺癌等健康風險的機會會較高。在美國，每年約有四十八萬的死亡個案是與抽煙有關的，也就是說，每個死亡個案中，就有個源於抽煙。事實上，因抽煙所導致的死亡，比愛滋病、非法濫藥、使用酒精、與槍械有關的意外，及車禍加起來還要多。然而，如果你選擇不抽煙，相對於那些不停抽煙的人，你的年歲會延長，你的健康會更強壯。
你也會因誘惑，而作出一些其他人希望你作出的選擇，而不去走你希望走的路。例如，你的朋友會叫你去欺凌一些小孩，因為這樣做會讓你更「棒」。但，你實在不想這樣做，因為欺凌會導致你要見校長，被停學。你可以跟朋友説「不」，但，在朋友的壓力，和熱烘烘的環境下，你做了。讓我們停一停！因為要討人喜歡，你把自己放在一個棘手的位置中。就是這樣，任何一個人都可以不自覺的從正途跑到歪路上來。
我想你現在正在琢磨：「如果我根本沒有選擇的餘地，我是被迫作出這錯誤的決定，那又如何？」真的如是，你就必須從錯誤中學習，以防止同類的事情再發生。如果你之所以做錯事，是因為朋友的壓力，也許你需要找一群新的朋友，一群不但知道你的價値觀，更會尊重你的價值觀的朋友。真正的朋友是會彼此尊重的，並且不會強迫對方做些他們不想做的事。
做正確的決定，並不是件容易的事，特別在別人(如同伴壓力、或社交媒體) 的影響下。然而，跟著正確的決定而走的路，只會有助於你，絕不會有害於你。因此，當選擇錯與對時，縱然，錯的那邊看起來比較吸引、比較刺激，要選擇那對的，因為，在往後的日子，你的身體會感謝你，並沒有在肉體和精神 上污染它！
◎ Wesley Chin (八年級學生) ◎ 翻譯 ：秦黃業玲