Why you should live up to your own advice before you give it
Do you have what it takes to hone and master the knowledge of what is right from wrong prior to giving advice?
The Q Six Castle and the Social Cost Series: 1.5
I can remember from a younger age, those who tended to be ‘wiser’ always gave me solid advice to apply in life. However, I didn’t know wise women and men had to learn a lot from the dregs of failed attempts, toxic behavior, and trial and error.
Before you begin to dismiss what I have to say, reflect with me on what I believe human beings should consider doing before counseling anyone.
Remember those moments when you receive such powerful and potent words of awakening — probably from your parents, grandparents, mentors, acquaintances, or even strangers? It seems as if their advice comes in handy only when you’ve reached those milestones to face a situation.
During the period of being tested in life, the psychological ‘fight or flight response kicks in, and the advice received will either be applied or forgotten. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case when individuals continue to face the same situation multiple times.
For instance, imagine your neighbor gave you solid advice a few years ago. But after the 5th time in the same situation, you realize the significance of what was told to you and you apply it. Sounds familiar?
In the play, As You Like It by William Shakespeare, the opening act of the monologue relates a lot on how to view life. Take the opening line, “All the world’s a stage…” by a character, Jaques, in the play. What Jaques said is interpreted as how life begins and ends, or from a religious standpoint where there is life and an afterlife.
Youth are typically naïve to the world and in order to survive, a lot has to be taught. As the journey of getting older continues, there’s an initial reaction to take when it comes to reflecting and responding to circumstances.
Take the Holy Bible for example. In Exodus, the Israelites were in the ‘wilderness’ for 40 years due to disobedience and unbelief of Yahweh’s standards. The journey to the promised land was supposed to take 40 days, however, the advice from the spiritual leaders at the time, Moses and Aaron, was not taken seriously by the Israelites. So, the cycle of disobedience continued until a few, Joshua and Caleb, finally grasped what was important to lead everyone to the promised land.
If it wasn’t for the faith of Joshua and Caleb to take the wisdom from Moses and Aaron seriously, their nation wouldn’t survive. This also explains how in Hosea 4:6, “My people perish for a lack of knowledge,” isn’t a false statement. Knowledge equals an abundance of wisdom.
As in the world today, many celebrities, pastors, and politicians give advice all of the time, such as on what to do with your money, how you should dress, or who you should date. It all comes to the fact of what the wise person had learned, but sometimes what was learned would be dismissed as useless information.
Take what happened last week to Will Smith and Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards. Smith, a well know actor, philanthropist, and hip-hop artist, is known to give advice to his own children, Willow, Jaden, and Trey to become ‘confident individuals’, and others around the world. But, it didn’t seem his advice worked for him when he slap Rock’s face and cuss him out. This situation let alone has a lot to unravel, however, it is only the surface level of what happened that night.
Overall, life lessons all work on what you do with what you learn and grow, so you’ll be able to share what you’ve gone through.
Of course, all humans want to teach the inexperienced about their past experiences, either good or bad. But, it is up to the wise to reflect on their lives daily too. According to 1 Corinthians 11:28, “ But let a man a examine himself…,” is about how every person should take the time to look at themselves daily. Overall, it’s an obligation for every human to take initiative to share knowledge on what is right from wrong with others so they won’t make the same mistakes.
So here I go preaching to the choir. Let me take what I said and reflect too!
From what I’ve learned and shared, I am willing to be open-minded to learn from others who went through similar or unfamiliar experiences so I can obtain more wisdom.
Do you know any others ways to give advice, or how to protect yourself when bad advice is given? Let’s chat here or email me at: mralcspeaks@alonzoclark.com
