Joe has made several decisions in his life that I don't think he thought through very well. I would get counseling, see if I could learn how to relate interpersonally better/get to know myself better so I don't make the same mistakes in the future. I think most of Joe's mistakes were because he didn't know himself very well and didn't know what was best for him. There's no "excuse" for sleeping with your friend's wife. It's not automatically "responsible"/the right thing to marry her, deciding to drink instead of divorce/help your kids was not a good choice for him, etc.