I know I’ve mentioned a few times lately that we made a visit to Cleveland a couple of weeks ago. We had a really good time and it was nice to see most of the family after a prolonged absence due to the pandemic.
Well, during the get-together, a couple of the family members asked me for advice. There were no serious subjects involved and the “advice” they asked for was more along the lines of something that just came up during the conversation.
But anyhow, I got to thinking about advice — people give and get advice all the time. Often times the advice is unwanted and many times it’s not only unappreciated, but sometimes the recipient gets upset at whoever is giving it.
So really the best advice about giving advice is — don’t give advice. First off, you probably never have all the information about whatever the situation is to be able to give good advice. And — just think about it… who are you to be giving advice to anybody? Most of our lives are pretty messed up — think about all the decisions you’ve made that maybe didn’t turn out for the best. On top of all that, people really don’t want your advice. They maybe want someone to listen to them, but really most people want to solve their own problems. They’re not looking for advice, they’re looking for an “ear.”
So — my advice on giving advice is don’t give advice.
But — since this blog is about giving advice, I figure I should give some. Remember, even though all this stuff is good advice, you’re under no obligation to take it….
Don’t keep your watch five minutes fast.
You’re almost always better off keeping your mouth shut, but don’t let that stop you from popping off.
Don’t save string — if you need string, buy it.
Never call in sick except when you’re sick.
There’s seldom a good reason for blowing the horn on your car.
Don’t keep saying, “I don’t know where the time goes.” It goes the same place it’s alway gone —and no one has ever known where that is.
The good advice above is free — you can use it or pass it along as you see fit, but trust me, you might want to think twice before the next time you’re tempted to give advice.
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