How do you deal with your failings? Do you try to salve your conscience with some kind of distraction? Maybe it is just a good book, but it might also be overeating or obsessing with some form of media. We all look for something to make us feel better when we are hurting, but when this desire controls us, then we end up choosing sin to make us feel better. The problem for everyone is that when we are hurting we are vulnerable. That means that we are more susceptible to deception and likely to give in to temptations that we would not give in to at other times in our lives. Most have heard of the fact that when people break a romantic relationship they will easily fall into a rebound. It is the exact same thing in most areas of our lives; we often make poor choices after getting hurt. Recognizing that you are weak at times is the first step in overcoming this, because once we do that we can then protect ourselves from attacks. When we (mistakenly) think everything is fine, then we are more easily made to stumble. There is the story (not sure if it is true or not) about the man whose fiancee abandoned him on their wedding day. So frustrated with women he went to his priest and said he wanted to go to seminary. Yes, relationships can be confusing but that is not the right response to that situation or the proper motivation for seminary. Take some time, someday soon, to examine your own responses to failings. Consider whether you handle it rightly, or if you fall into the salve the conscience mode of behavior. In principle, it does not matter what you seek for comfort; if it is something that you can become addicted to or controlled by, then it can lead you astray and you need to avoid it and seek instead the grace of Christ.