It’s good to listen to your spouse when he or she gives you advice.

Though this is a very valid statement, it isn’t true all the time … but it was for me last night. 

We had been out for a walk and arrived back home at about 9 pm. As Lil looked up to the sky she said, “You should get your drone and take some video of the sky. It’s beautiful.”

I kind of balked at the advice because we could only see a small section of the sky and, though it was colourful, we couldn’t see the full horizon. What I could see didn’t seem that impressive. 

There is also another thing that happens when my wife gives me advice: I automatically challenge the idea. 

Now don’t get me wrong here. There are many times Lily gives me advice and I readily receive it and act on it. But when it comes to something that is my domain, something that I do and she doesn’t, well, that’s when I kind of push back. 

It happens the other way as well. There are times when I give Lily advice that I can tell she is immediately dismissing what I’m telling her. She will have many reasons or arguments for not wanting to follow my advice. 

It goes both ways. 

It is the belief that, hey, this subject, topic, activity, whatever, is my expertise. It’s what I know or do; don’t try to barge into my territory. 

I remember my father-in-law took a course based on a book his instructor had written. My father-in-law noticed a few grammatical errors on the first page and the instructor was quite appreciative. He even invited him to check the rest of the chapter for errors. 

Well, the next day my father-in-law showed the instructor all the red marks in the first chapter and it was clear the instructor was not appreciative of the advice given. This book was his baby; he’d put a lot of work into it. He didn’t like the fact that someone was pointing out its flaws and giving advice.

I think it might be human nature to resist the advice of someone who is poking their nose into an area that you feel you have ability in. 

No one likes the guy who walks by while you are planting a garden and tells you should really lay down landscaping cloth to keep the weeds out. 

Well, as it turned out, I had to put something away when Lily and I arrived home. She went into the house and I had time to think. 

As I thought about it and looked back up at the sky, I decided I would take Lil up on her advice. I got my drone and took some very colourful video and images from about 350 feet in the air.

The image in this post is one of them. It’s pretty sweet when the sunset cooperates and when you take someone’s advice. 

Here’s the thing: Our world is filled with advice. Often we just tune out the advice we don’t want to hear. But if that advice is correct and wise, we miss out and it can end up causing us grief. God has advice for us if we will take it. It’s found in the Bible. His greatest advice is to take Him up on His free gift of salvation that comes by placing your faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What makes taking advice difficult for you? Leave your comments and questions below.

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