Advice

Today, on my commute to school, the incomparable Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic" came through my truck's speakers. After I finished screaming the lyrics at the windshield and my dashboard drum solo, I began to ponder the meaning of a particular line, "It's the good advice that you just didn't take. Who would've thought? It figures..." Today's post will discuss some of my random ponderings on the subject of advice.



How many times have we disregarded the good advice that was given to us? Perhaps I am the only person guilty of doing so, but I can't believe that this is true. For example, in 1997, my mother obviously deflected the good advice of a hairdresser who most likely commented that bangs probably weren't the best choice for a little girl with a miniscule forehead. It only took that girl four years and an endless amount of hair barrettes to grow the bangs out to a suitable length. Okay, confession time: That girl was me, but I have obviously recovered from the experience with time....Anyway, now that it is evident that I am not the only one in history to ignore advice, (Sorry, Mom!) I can't help but wonder why we do so to begin with. Why is advice so much easier to give than to receive?


I am a Beautiful, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Charming, person with a sense of Humor, as are many young people out there. Why is it, then, that when I give someone advice, or someone attempts to give me advice, all of those attributes are condensed into a single word; Bitch? Excuse my language, but if I'm being honest, when someone attempts to give me advice of a sensitive nature that is the only word that my offended brain can produce to describe them. We immediately get defensive when on the receiving end, but when dispensing, we are all too quick to offer up solutions. Why is it so much harder to hear the words we know to be true from someone else?


As for advice that I didn't take, that list is longer than I would care to divulge. I try not to live with regrets or ask the dreaded question of "What if?" This is a fairly new policy in my life, implemented only after a heart to heart with a dear friend. She assured me that those types of reflections are a sure way to end up unhappy, and I believe that. However, it is still sometimes hard not to let the questions come creeping into the depths of my mind in times of doubt.


I hope to change my thought process when both giving and receiving advice and to let today's ponderings serve as a guideline with which to consider what direction I shall next trek in my Uncharted Atlas.


-Kolby

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, Uncharted Atlas!

I hope to use this site as a platform for expressing my opinions and views on the goings-on in the world and as a tool to help myself understand them more clearly. Additionally, I also imagine this to serve as a canvas to illustrate and document the shenanigans that I find myself getting into as I take on new tasks and challenges. My wish is that you follow along with me, as I describe my world and take you along the ups and downs of being a somewhat dramatic twenty-something year old, who is searching for redemption from the past, a place in the future, and an understanding of all that happens in between.

- Kolby