I haven't blogged in so long my fingers are stiff and I need to once again re-tap into my "train of thought" which creates much of the blogging brillancy you read. Today's train = _________ hold on...I'm thinking. Ah yes, advice.
I have always been one to offer advice whether the advisee wanted it or not. I can't control myself sometimes. I have also been told that I am a good at reading people. So far, so good. Advice, is not really something anyone wants to hear unless they specifically ask for it. Americans especially don't like "un-asked-for" advice. It takes a special trust to ask for and also receive worthwhile advice.
Recently, relationship advice has been a topic of discussion between myself and one of my great friends in the states. So far, we have basically called each others shots from afar and predicted what was going to happen eachothers lives. We also have offered eachother advice that was trusting and productive. The funny thing is...we don't even know the person that we are advising about. I mean I know my friend and she knows me but the other factors in the equation are unknown to either of us, other than a brief description the people and a bit of the situation. What is really cool though, is that we both knew exactly what to say to eachother. And this leads me to my point.
Advice is really helpful. (Wow, Right? Deep!!!) Instead of living through life thinking that we can handle any situation that comes our way is really....well....stupid. Life is meant to be lived together and shared. Here is the real kicker though. While my friend and I are exchanging advice, we are seeking more information about but the whole time we really are focused the person we are advising not the situation at hand. Knowing that person better and better and finding out new peculiarities about their personality is unexplainably addictive. Discovering new and fun facts about our friends that, even though they may 6,000 something miles away, is something that I have enjoyed in my life recently.
So this brings up another point that I mentioned briefly earlier. I mentioned that we both have a very little information about the situations we are both in. But, what is fascinating is, that we both have been really good at calling the shots in these respective situations. You know why? Because we know eachother. We know eachother well enough to know how these situations will most likely end up. I don't credit for being a fortune-teller but I do take credit for being a friend, and vice-versa for her.
We did not need to know the entire situation to know the truth, the outcome. We knew eachother, our tendencies, personality.
-Do we need every fact about everything before making a decision?
-Do we know enough about ourselves to make a decision? If we don't, are we confident and trusting enough to ask someone?
-Do we have to be doctors to lend someone meaningful advice?
-Are we bold enough to give advice that hurts? Not, just be a "YES" man.
-Are we bold enough to act on someone else's advice and not our own intuition?
Give me some advice on what I should write about next. Funny, sad, poetic, artsy, deep, story, real life, etc.
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ReplyDelete(I had some issues with spelling in the last comment - like, big ones)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I think I try to incorporate people's advice in with my own intuition. You made a good point when you said that we can't do everything by ourselves, we often need, and should be open to, help from others. I have a very specific way of looking at things I've noticed, and really appreciate the input of others when they offer advice and ideas I would have never come up with on my own. Fellowship is important. Anyway, you already said all this, sorry. So, advice. On your next post. Hmmmmmm. I advise you to write to us about a time when you made a HUGE mistake and what you learned from it. Let's get down and dirty. (I wasn't hitting on you) (well, I mean, maybe a little)