Advice

It is NOT a light-bulb moment to accept that it is much easier to give advice than to accept advice.  While telling our children to eat better or be careful on the road, I have observed many parents skipping breakfast and using the phone in the car.

It is NOT a light-bulb moment that with a straight face we can tell a friend how to reasonably resolve a dispute with their spouse while we have mini meltdowns with ours.

There are many therapists and doctors who guide and help patients yet struggle in their own homes.

It is pretty obvious to me that when the emotional factor is out of the equation, it is much easier to look at a situation with reason.  That is why it is even more important to talk with friends, seek counseling, and/or join help groups.  We all need someone to bounce our problems off of.  Someone who can be objective and help us to see the situation with some perspective.

A friend shared with me a situation with her spouse that got out of hand.  I gave her what she called ‘sage’ advice.  She would be laughing right now to know that I had a situation that went badly in my own relationship and I did not follow my own advice.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could ‘freeze’ the moment, take some time and really think about what we want to say before we say it?  Or stop and think, “What would I tell a friend to do”?

Thoughts on the subject?