The Futility of Advice!

I am sure all of us have taken or given advice during the course of our lives. Sometimes we are so short of ideas that we need family and friends to fill in for us. In difficult situations, we are faced with tough choices, and even in favorable situations, we may have a problem of plenty!

It is here at this point that we commit our greatest mistakes. We seek advice, and we turn it into decisions. All of us, at some point of time in our lives, have been guilty of letting people influence us into making decisions and doing things which we actually did not want to do.

Come to think of it, are there really any right or wrong choices in this world? From what my limited experiences tell me, there are only two kinds of acts: “legal and illegal”. If we are idealists, we might have another category: “moral and immoral”. If, however, a category called “right and wrong” exists for us, then we might better look out for some kind of rigidity which might have overtaken us.

From where I see, there is nothing called right or wrong. There are only perspectives.Perspectives of people who think differently because that's how mankind is supposed to be. For example, an entrepreneur may look down upon a government job for being insipid. The same government employee might look down upon an entrepreneur as a mindless risk taker.A girl might dump her boyfriend for becoming a pain for her .That guy,at the same time, might feel heartbroken. A child might want to be a painter in life because that is his best skill but his parents might want him to opt for a safer career. So are any of the above people wrong? Not really. These are just different perspectives of different people.

So,instead of understanding ourselves and understanding our own perspectives, we often fall in the trap of seeking advice from ill informed people. These ill informed people are present even among the closest family and closest friends. Just because we are close to someone does not mean that we should seek advice from that person.By doing that, we typecast ourselves. We run the risk of falling prey to our comfort zones.We also run the risk of falling prey to preconceived notions of such people.Make a note of it,advice is often based on experiences,but at the same time,advice also highlights the egotistical notions of people. Such people would go to all means to justify what they say and believe, and we fall prey to the strength these egotists possess. When we heed the voices of such people,act accordingly and eventually realize that things have gone wrong ,these egotists are nowhere to be seen and accounted for,and we are left to fend for ourselves.

In my opinion, it is more important to seek facts,rather than advice, from people who possess more knowledge than we do.Only these people,even if they are not friends or family, give us the right facts. It is then our duty to analyse ourselves,our perspectives and finally see where those facts lead us to. That is the only way we can do justice to ourselves and show true respect to our desires and ambitions. Remember, that no one,and absolutely no one understands us better than we do ourselves.

And at the end of the day if someone comes to you and says-“You don’t listen to anyone but do only what you have to”, the most crisp reply would be – “Probably the best thing I do ! “  Its your life. Live it your way.