Listen up and rise up

Advice. Have you ever benefited from timely advice? “That guy is a jerk!” your friend said. Blunt but wise words that encouraged you to avoid a potentially abusive relationship. “You’ve got to get more excercise,” your doctor said. And 10 years later, you are as healthy as can be, and still out there jogging, bright and early, with all the other jogging addicts. “Danger: Sharks. No Swimming,” the sign said. So you stayed on the beach, stayed out of the water, and now you are still alive. Good advice.

It is actually a sign of wisdom to regularly seek advice

Everybody needs to listen to appropriate advice from time to time. Each person reading this (and writing this) would benefit if they did. It really doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from. Nationality isn’t an issue. Culture doesn’t count. Race is irrelevant. Money is insignificant. An education isn’t everything. Old age is no guarentee that you have arrived. Das macht nichts as they say in German. It doesn’t matter when you arrived on the earth either. People on this planet need to listen to constructive criticism today just like they did a thousand years ago. It is a good idea to stop and listen, because nobody is really a know-it-all after all. Surprised? I didn’t think so.

Unemployed factory workers in Athens, wealthy lawyers in London or New York, powerful politicians, desperately poor people – everyone needs good advice. Cultures that are progressive and expanding need it. Communities clearly in a state of decline could use it. Countries that are deep in debt and nations flush with cash can’t get by for very long without it. It shouldn’t sound odd to be reminded that it is actually a sign of wisdom to regularly seek advice. So ask away. Just think what might happen if you isolated yourself and never did?

Seeking out and listening to expert advice must, of course, be balanced with an emphasis on evaluating what you hear. You do not know everything, and neither does anyone else. Complete knowledge is always lacking and motives can be mixed. A “friend,” sad to say, may have attached a negative label to your potential boyfriend, or girlfriend, more out of jealousy than anything else. Time will tell. This world is full of people with occasionally skewed motives and perspectives. People often think they can see more clearly than they can. “Don’t believe everything you think,” is a message that needs to get around. Still, you and I need all the insight and help we can get. So listen up. You will be glad you did.

Listening to sound advice is always a good idea, but it is especially important early on in your life. So much is at stake as you are about to launch out into your future. Just when your potential for doing good has peaked…make a few poor choices, and you can almost ruin everything. You don’t need me to tell you that there are an endless variety of ways in which young people manage to essentially self-destruct. If it isn’t substance abuse it is philosophical insanity. If it isn’t dangerous driving it is reckless living. If it isn’t psychological trauma it is spiritual darkness. For every story about a bright future, it seems like one can be told with a tragic end.

And yet, there is more light. I can see light rising up from the earth right around where you live. It is strong and clear as it arches back down and touches another human life. More light lift off and then comes in for a landing, making a positive impact. This artistic display slowly expands. It happens again and again and again. All over the world, lives that could have been crushed are beginning to count. Growing insight has added focus and direction. Youthful energy and enthusiasm is being put to good use. Many are making a difference.

With a little friendly advice, this old world is going to feel your weight.