Srinagar, Aug. 29 -- We carefully calculate the price of food, fuel, education, healthcare, housing and technology. We compare salaries, interest rates, profits, investments and monthly expenses. Yet many of the choices that ultimately cost us the most do not involve money at all.

Their price is paid in character, trust, reputation, relationships, peace of mind and lost time.

A wrong action may initially appear profitable, pleasurable, convenient or even harmless. It may promise money, influence, revenge, freedom or instant satisfaction. But the true cost often appears much later, when the moment of temptation has passed and the consequences have begun to accumulate.

That is why one of the most important questions before making a serio...