Shrewdness is the good habit which is built over time which allows a man to quickly and easily make good and rapid decisions about the choices he needs to make. While the Shrewd man seems to have an intuitive ability to quickly reach the right decision, he is also reaping the great effort over a long period of time of being thoughtful in decision making which has given him the ability to sometimes instantaneously know what decision will serve him best. A Shrewd man is also often blessed to have the intellectual horsepower to rapidly make decisions.
The vice opposing the growth of Shrewdness is to be Slow-witted, an unwillingness or intellectual laziness over time to be disciplined in making decisions in a thoughtful way which renders one unable to quickly make decisions when needed. The Slow-witted while often having a lack of intellectual horsepower, lack the discipline to take responsibility and put in the effort to learn and more quickly respond – SOURCE
Something that can help speed up our decision-making is to consider our purpose here on earth. This meditation from St. Alphonsus Ligouri goes straight to the point:
SALVATION IS OUR ONLY BUSINESS IN THIS WORLD
One thing is necessary (Luke x. 42). It is not necessary we should be rich, or honoured, or in the enjoyment of good health, but it is necessary we should be saved. For this end alone has God placed us in this world, and woe to us if we do not attain it!
I. Of all our affairs there is none more important than that of our eternal salvation, on which depends our happiness or misery for eternity.
One thing is necessary. It is not necessary that we should be rich, honoured, or in the enjoyment of good health, but it is necessary that we should be saved. For this end alone has God placed us in the world; and woe to us if we do not attain it!
St. Francis Xavier said that the only good to be obtained in this world is salvation; and the only evil to be dreaded, damnation. What matter if we are poor, or despised, or infirm? If we are saved we shall be happy forever. On the contrary, what does it avail to be great, or to be monarchs? If we are lost, we shall be miserable for all eternity.
O God, what will become of me? I may be saved, and I may also be lost! And if I may be lost, why do I not resolve to adhere more closely to Thee?
My Jesus, have pity on me. I will amend my life. Give me Thy assistance. Thou hast died to save me, and shall I, notwithstanding, forfeit my salvation?
II. Have we already done enough to secure salvation? Are we already secure of not falling into hell?
What exchange shall a man give for his soul? (Matt. xvi. 26). If he lose his soul, what will compensate him for his loss?
What have not the Saints done to secure their salvation? How many kings and queens have renounced their kingdoms and shut themselves up in cloisters! How many young men have left their country, and have gone to live in deserts! How many young virgins have renounced marriage with the great ones of the world, to go and give their lives for Jesus Christ! And what are we doing?
O my God, how much has Jesus Christ done for our salvation! He spent thirty-three years in toil and labour; He gave His Blood and His Life; and shall we, through our own fault, be lost?
O Lord, I give Thee thanks for not having called me out of the world when I had forfeited Thy grace. Had I died then, what would have become of me for all eternity?
God desires that all should be saved: He will have all men to be saved. (1 Tim. ii. 4). If we are lost, it will be entirely our own fault. And this will be our greatest torment in hell.
St. Teresa says that even the loss of a trifle, of an ornament, of a ring, when it has happened through our own carelessness, occasions us the greatest uneasiness. What a torment, then, will it be to the damned to have wilfully lost all–their souls, Heaven, and God!
Alas! death approaches; and what have I done for life eternal?
O my God, for how many years have I deserved to dwell in hell, where I could not repent, nor love Thee! Now that I can repent and love Thee, I will repent and I will love Thee.
IMAGE SOURCE: Marinus van Reymerswaele, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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