Kids Give the Best Advice
Sometimes the best advice for life, business, relationships, health and money is right in front of us and we don’t even hear it. Take for instance the advice that children can offer! Consider these:
- “Run around the backyard like the dog does. He seems like he’s in pretty good shape.” Gavriella, age 7
- “Just run all the time. Run like there’s hot lava behind you. Cause then even if you get tired, you’ll be like, ‘Aaaaaaiee! Lava!’ And you’ll keep running.” Charlie, age 5
- “First you try to underestimate her and say that you don’t like her and stuff, and then the next year you just ask, ‘Will you marry me?’” Logan, age 7
- “Don’t put a glue stick in her hair. It sounds funny, but she never thinks so.” Charlie, age 5
- “Ask her, ‘Can we play together?’ If she says yes, then you have a great deal.” Aki, age 5
- “Eat lots of broccoli. It might give you bad farts, but it makes you stronger if you eat the stems. If you fart a lot but you’re strong, I think that’s a good compromise.” Gemma, age 7
- “Don’t do any diets. Just eat healthy stuff without doing anything weird. Definitely don’t do the diet where you eat other humans.” Logan, age 7
- “If you eat salad, make sure it’s not poison ivy. That poison ivy will get you, mister.” Charlie, age 5
- “Go take a walk in the woods. Nature is great because it has birds and Bigfoot. [Long pause.] Bigfoot’s not alive, right?” Ian, age 5
- “Sometimes you have to laugh so hard, you super-pee. That’s when you pee over your entire pants. Your pants are like ruined with pee. That’s how hard you laughed.” Charlie, age 5
- “You should go to work and stay there while your sons are at school. That way, your sons won’t come home from school and say, ‘Why did you buy a trampoline? We don’t have any money!’ [Long pause.] Except a trampoline would be cool, so definitely get the trampoline.” Ian, age 5
- “Go to the one dollar store. Even if they don’t have anything you want, everything only costs a dollar.” Oscar, age 5
- “Get a bigger house. If your house is really big, you’ll have to walk a long way just to get to the bathroom. That’s a lot of exercise. I think people who live to 100 had to walk up and down a lot of stairs just to go potty.” Ian, 5
- “Don’t cross the street without looking both ways because you could get hit by a car and then somebody else gets all the candy.” Charlie, age 5
When Kids Aren’t Available, Maybe Do These Things Instead
Children aren’t always around to bail us out with their wisdom. Truth be told, based on the list above, maybe children are really NOT our best source of wisdom! Still, there are many times where the input or sage advice from another would be helpful. But we have all received horrible advice before, and maybe even acted on it! How do we sort out the good from the bad. Consider this set of filters for choosing which advice is worth following.
Go Back for Seconds When the Meal was Good
When seeking counsel, the first and best thing to do is go back to individuals who have offered sound and successful advice to you and others in the past. People with a proven track record for thinking through problems, considering the possibilities and offering prudent direction ought to be the first call we make when seeking wisdom. This doesn’t mean those people never make a mistake, or that they might sometimes be wrong in their assessments. It’s just simple math. If they’ve been right more times than wrong in the past, then maybe it’s a good idea to start there.
Seek Out Success
If you’re struggling in relationships, then seek out someone who seems to be strong in that realm and try to glean wisdom from their journey. If you need some guidance for business or personnel issues, then look for that leader who has walked those pathways many more times than you have, and has successfully navigated those situations. Wanna get healthy? Seek out those you know experiencing a health lifestyle, and discover the choices and activities they are involved in to get them there!
Sleep On It
Many of the worst decisions in our lives come when we rush into them. We convince ourselves that we must act or choose immediately, or at least very quickly. The truth is quite the opposite for most situations. There is tremendous power in taking some time to carefully think through your options. Spend the hours, days or even longer to meditate on the choices in front of you, carefully considering not only the possible options you have. This could involve quiet thinking, studying this issue, or prayer and reflection!
You also should take plenty of time to consider the many various consequences that could come from each decision. A simple legal tablet with your option or choice written across the top, with a “Pro” and “Con” column below it could offer the vivid visual you need to provide the ultimate self-direction you need!
You Got This!
Seriously… believe in yourself! You will not be perfect, but you will make progress! Learn from the wise choices and the monster mistakes as well, and allow both to make you better not bitter! Life truly is a journey, so enjoy the ride!