Have Any Suggestions?

I suppose we should take these things with a grain of salt.  Depending if you like to live dangerously or not, the choice of treading lightly or throwing caution to the wind is in your power.  Sometimes it may be wise if we don’t listen at all, but I am a trusting soul and somehow fall under the spell of others appearing more informed.  But since it saves time, energy and enough brainpower (to be used at a later date), I cannot help myself… its true; I take advice from other people.  Its not that I am a glutton for punishment, it is just that my creativity has been waning recently (realistically, I must admit it is going on 20 years) and I can’t think past the front door at times, so a bit of guidance now and again is essential in me getting through the day.

I have categorized the difference between recommendations, advice and opinions.  Thanks to extensive research over the years, I have noticed that the variables that play in deciding which classification words of wisdom fall under depends mostly on the source you are receiving it from, if it was solicited and if you heard the response correctly.  There is potential danger if any one of these steps is somehow misinterpreted.  In a perfect world it would be great to take words at face value, but we should know that cannot always be the case and must either choose to accept, reject or suspend action (until proper determination of meaning of said remarks can be scrutinized, dissected and examined properly).

For example, I may ask a worldly, well-traveled type for recommendations on food, frolic and cultural diversion in a city I know they have visited and are well acquainted.  I trust this advice and have taken extensive notes from their comments.  I feel confident that they have not steered me wrong and look forward to my fun-filled vacation.

I solicit advice from experts in their fields.  If I need assistance in managing my portfolio I have found a proficient proliferator of profit to guide me.  If I am searching for the perfect cut of meat for my dinner party, a butcher is the only person I have faith in to counsel me.  My hairdresser is the only one that knows for sure.  And, for the really big things in life, I go straight to the top for guidance… it just saves time.

Opinions, on the other hand, are tricky and must be played well and interpreted even better.  Case in point: I ask my cuddlebug if he thinks I look svelte and alluring in a new pair of jeans I recently purchased.  He hesitates… he contemplates… his brow furrows… slowly he forms his lips in what looks like might be a response and then, as though his wits have returned back to him, he smiles and nods leaving me with the right answer… which is no answer.  It has been a long learning process for him to get to where he is today, but well worth the time training him, uh – I mean guiding and nurturing him on the finer points of how to communicate with a woman.  It takes a wise soul to know when to hold them and to know when to fold them… opinions that is.  And know that people really don’t have an opinion, until they have an opinion and then watch out… they just may give it to you.

It is up to you to choose how to best mobilize, utilize or exploit the enlightenment that others have endowed upon you.  The part I need to keep in mind, work on and not bemoan is that most of what I get in way of communiqué from others is at no cost and I shouldn’t complain when I get “free”, “friendly” advice… just realize that sometimes you get what you pay for.

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life.  Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.               

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-