Advice is something we have all either been extended, or sought out based on any of the numerous situations in which it seems necessary to go to others for help.
Something I hate more than anything is when someone tries to extend unwarranted advice onto you. I get it, they are trying to be supportive and helpful, but from my experience often times this advice really just leads to more frustration or confusion. This applies to a manifold of topics, ranging from dating, to surviving school, to finding a job, to just simply living your life – its as if someone always has something to add.
For example, when I complain about being single I often receive the comment, “the moment you stop looking is when it will happen,” this coming from the same people that two weeks prior had said that you needed to simply “put yourself out there.” It’s infuriating! As helpful as your friends think they’re being, the whole mixed signals situation is pretty much inevitable in my experience and therefore not valuable. No one knows your situation as particularly well as you do, and so if you are going to ask for advice, prepare to not always agree. If the advice is unsolicited feel free to disregard.
There is certainly a time and place for the ones you love to provide a guiding light for your future endeavors. If you are lucky enough to have people in your life that are trying to support you by offering up their own perspectives to whatever situation you may be dealing with, know that you are lucky. Yes, it sucks to be given advice and to feel like you need someone else’s help to get through the day, the month, the year – but it’s okay to not be okay, and to resent the world just a little.
Hold tight to your perspective, but be willing to compromise on some simple aspects of how you look at your world. It’s a frustrating process to first learn, and then understand that the world is not exactly the way you see it, but rather a myriad of unique perspectives that are shaping our reality around us. Understand what your reality is, and be willing to accept that of others. Always be ready to tell people to f*ck off when necessary and you will be golden for the rest of your days.
Never accept advice that you aren’t completely on board about, if it doesn’t give you the warm and fuzzies, move on. Accept that the extension of advice from your peers, mentors, friends, advisors and especially parents usually comes from a place of good intentions and value it as such. Live your life for you, and never regret a single moment of any path you choose to walk.
At the end of the day the only advice that matters is the advice you decide to take, so tread lightly and always keep moving forward and it's doubtful that one can ever fail in this weird thing we call living life.
