Why can we give advice that seems like it came straight down from heaven, but when we find ourselves in similar situations, that all-knowing advice goes straight out the window? Come on a journey with me to find out: why we can’t seem to take our own advice?
Life is full of decisions and with the most important decisions, you have to battle what your head tells you to do: the logical side, and what your heart tells you to do: the emotional side. when giving your friends advice, you are typically able to use your “head” because you are objective and not emotionally invested in the situation. However, when you are in the same situation, you may not folow the logical advice you gave your friend, you end up following your heart. So why do we do that? When we know our emotions holding the reigns on our decision making, why do we allow it?
When the situation involves you, you have a much greater emotional tie to it. You start pulling in parts of the situation that do not really matter to the decision at hand, which can cloud your vision. The fact is, it’s not fun to put blame on yourself for bad situation that leads to difficult decisions, but this is why most people have problems taking their own advice. When telling a friend what they need to do within themselves to make a situation better or make a decision, you do not avoid telling the friend what they’ve done wrong to be in that situation. Sometimes the most logical approach is the approach that hurts the most because you know it’s right, but you don’t feel like it’s right.
But we don’t only do this in our times of struggle, we also attribute this to other people. If someone is late to class, you may think they’re lazy or that they do not care about their academics; but when you’re late for class, it’s okay because you know you care. Human beings have difficulty taking responsbility for negative things that we’ve done- it’s much easier to be proud of yourself, isn’t it? But that is a not a good way to live. It is important to realize when you are wrong and when you have made decisions that resulted in a bad situation, it’s the only way for you to move on.
The next time you are faced with a difficult decision and you want to follow your heart, take as much time as you possibly can to analyze the situation. To think with your heart is to think with emotion, and sometimes, emotions are fleeting. You may make a rash decision about your career because you love somethign right now, but will that be how you feel 10 years from now? No one really knows. It is best to take the objective approach. So, your next big life decision, don’t be afraid to listen to someone else’s advice- but be sure to not neglect your own.