Monday, November 21, 2022

Advice

You know, the one thing that I have found with people is that they all love GIVING advice. Very few actually like receiving advice, especially when they do not ask for it. AND, more often than not, someone who asks for advice is asking you to justify why what he intends doing/has done is right. They may not say it in so many words but, apparently, a lot of people believe in... 

"I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself." - Oscar Wilde.

Well, actually, a lot of advice IS like that, though I do not know whether it qualifies as good advice. I mean, like you get cancer and THEN a goodly lot of people come and tell you about how you should have given up smoking; you break a bone on a trek and hordes of people come and advice you not to take such risks at your age...things like that. I mean, really, how useful to oneself is that advice THEN?

But, yeah, even really good advice is very seldom of use to one...merely because most of such advice ends up asking you to do a wholesale character make-over which may well be beyond you. Like 'You should control your temper better' OR 'You need to be more disciplined' OR whatever that seems to run against the grain of who you are. Pass it on, guys, pass it on, you cannot use it yourself!

And, so, like those wedding gifts - the 23rd wall clock or the 37th flower vase - advice also needs passing on to the next person because it is of no use to you. OR so most of the world believes. Is it a wonder that few want to listen to it and most want to give it? I mean, like, if I am overflowing with wall clocks, am I likely to be interested in giving them away or in collecting more of them?

The modern world has made things easy. I just received some advice - dressed up nicely in graphics - talking all about living in the moment. I promptly passed it on by forwarding it to a friend. Before I could even blink, up pops a notification from another friend and....presto! I have that advice back with me again! And, without even a threat of dire happenings if it is not forwarded to ten people within seconds!

Well! Well! Well!

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