Why do people ask advice?

A good answer would be because they are unsure of the answer themselves.

Why do people ask advice and then seemingly ignore it?

Your answer on this occasion may have been exactly what they needed to  hear, but for some reason they do not act upon it. This could lead to your own frustration and a promise that you will not offer advice to that person again.

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Whilst most people would recognise that as a fair and reasonable response, others would realise that the questioner is crying out for help, but on this occasion you are not the person with the right AUTHORITY to give the answer.

I personally studied ‘Law’ as part of a public administration course, which can  help in resolving some questions, but, and I would be the first to admit it, I am often not the person with authority in this subject. If I suggested a possible solution to a legal problem, few would accept my observations; yet however  their value would mirror that of a proper legal representative.

It is human nature that we get answers from the correct source.

In my youth I was able to strip a car engine down and repair and restore to its  original condition. Yet if I suggested to a colleague that their engine needed a de-coke, they would politely accept my comments but approach a mechanic for a proper answer.

The suggestion here then is that; when you are all exhausted from trying to  offer advice but getting nowhere, direct the individual concerned to the person with authority.

THE RIGHT AUTHORITY

In my philosophical youth, I was trying to impress my ‘in-laws’ (my wife’s  parents), more specifically my mother-in-law. She was searching, as they do,  for my position/political stance on a certain topic. Incidentally she is the deputy head of a local school for 12 – 16 year olds.

I sat back and said I couldn’t answer without all the facts. Nothing too strange there, but I sensed a need to speak out with some ‘personal philosophy’.  Perhaps a little too early in the day to be received with anticipation, my ‘mother-in-law’ sat back with a certain degree of apprehension.

I suggested that people are better making important decisions in a good/happy  state of mind. If a decision is demanded at a moment you are stressed out,  then you need to take a moment to calm down. Even to the point of meditating for five minutes. My mother-in-law was sceptical.

Precisely two weeks later (Sunday morning), my mother-in-law was reading her favourite Sunday morning newspaper. Guess what! A journalist had researched an article on meditation and how to calm our busy minds down. There was the ‘authority’, the same comment from ‘my’ humble lips meant nothing, now that the same instruction was in print, my mother-in-law was prepared to consider its values!!!

QUOTE: “Convincing the doubter without substantiation from an AUTHORITY is like feeding a toddler a dishful of soup using a fork. Change the fork to a spoon.”

(Phil Booker)

SELF DEVELOPMENT:

The same use of self development is found in both motivation and self esteem, and that is to plan using small and achievable goals.

If you have an absence of goals, you have an absence of self development.

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To remind you we are not talking about huge goals but small achievable ones.

QUOTE: “Look for more and more things in every day to appreciate. Then watch your life in the days and weeks ahead blossom before you.” (Eva).

As with any goal planning, they needed to be routed using fundamental principles. Doing this ensures that you are creating positive actions.

Today’s story examines the benefits of being routed with sound principles.

FREEDOM TO SOAR

One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites.

Multicoloured creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing in the heady atmosphere above the earth.

As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check. Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind.

As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!” They soared beautifully even as they fought the imposed restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. “Freedom at last” it seemed to say. “Freedom to fly with the wind.”

Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze.

It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. “Freedom at last,” freedom to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.

How much like kites we sometimes are. The Lord gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength.

Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained.

We keep part of the commandment and (pardon the pun) never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us each rise to the great heights our Heavenly Father has in store for us, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.

(Lessons From Life, Chapter 12 - Free To Soar - Wayne B. Lynn)

QUOTE: “In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.

(Unknown Author).