There are days when people pick me up. There are days when people knock me down.
Today, I feel like I'm kinda getting knocked down.
Why is it that others feel such a hubris as to tell me how to live and what I should or should not be doing with my life, how I should feel, how I should approach parenthood? When I'm left alone, it's smooth sailing. My internal compass gives me such a clear image of my direction in life, and I get so excited about the destination. And then someone will come along with a big cannon and...boom! I've been blown out of the water.
It can be big things like a person telling me that my well-thought out ideas aren't going to work, or medium things like my husband losing the electric bill and getting stressed out over it, or it can be small things like the coach not putting my kid in the game until the second half and only giving him one at-bat. Today, it was a bit of each and a little more.
I feel like I'm very careful not to tell others how they should live and don't hand out advice unless it's requested. I don't tell other people how to discipline their children, what to eat, how to learn, or when to put my kid in the game. Yet all around me I'm approached by people, friends and strangers, willing to tell me about their One True Way of living. They have The Thing or The Book or The Food or The Vitamin or The Lifestyle that will work for me.
Don't get me wrong. I take all of their words into consideration. I investigate their unsolicited advice and entertain their ideas because I believe in giving people an audience, encouraging real thought.
But when it comes to others listening to my advice...well, I usually just don't give it. I figure that unsolicited advice is much like a telemarketer's phone call--if I were interested, I'd seek it out myself.
I've changed my diet, I've taken my multivitamins, I've increased my exercise, I've eaten my broccoli, I've seen the therapist, I've drank my tea, and I've read the books. I've taken the good advice and I've tried very earnestly to ignore the bad advice.
But today, I'm just feeling a bit knocked down.
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