Eknath Easwaran's Commentary
The Buddha, the most practical of teachers, says that wisdom is essentially discrimination – the precious capacity to see what is important in the long run and then choose our course of action accordingly.
Most of us are vigilant when making big decisions, but less so when dealing with little ones. We forget the cumulative effect of all those missed “little” opportunities. It is precisely on those thousand little occasions, and over a period of time, that the mind is taught to be calm and kind – not instantaneously or by great leaps. In the ordinary choices of every day we begin to change the direction of our lives.