On Mentorship

Having gone through this day, I realize I am lucky to have people whom I consider mentors in my life. Some of them are friends who are always there to give me advice (even most of them are unsolicited). I just appreciate the fact that they tell me their thoughts and opinions, but they don't force them on me (at least most of them don't). Some of them are those who are more experienced in a certain business, craft or with life in general. These are the people who have been through life by trial and error and what they just impart is their wisdom. They're the type of mentors whose advice you can't just ignore.

But then sometimes, I'm in a situation where I don't care about what others advised me to do, whether it be about life, family, career or love. Sometimes, I hear an advice but never really listened to it. It just went in one ear and went out the other. Maybe I just want to experience life first-hand. Well, it's not that I wanna torture myself by making mistakes other people made even if I had the chance to avoid it. I mean, how could I learn how to stand up when I have never experienced falling down, right?

It's also difficult to give an advice to someone without being in that person's shoe. It's a totally different thing-- a different point of view if I'm experiencing all the hardships compared to just being a witness to it. That's why sometimes, I TRY not to give unsolicited advice.

Side comments:
Sometimes, I don't like it when people tell me what to do. It's ok if I believe I would benefit or learn from it, or if I really need to do it (like when teachers give me assignments). But what I don't agree with is when they force me to do things I don't like to or don't approve of. If they ask nicely, maybe I'll give in. If they give me an acceptable reason why I should do it, maybe I would. If, in one way or another, they convince me to do it, then it's ok. But actually, when I come to think of it, it's not THEM who really have convinced me. It's just me having convinced MYSELF, that's why I did it.
(You know who you are. I'm sorry if I can't do what you're telling me to. It's just that I have a lot going on in my life right now, I don't want to make it more complicated.)

Thoughts for the day:
"Tough times don't last, tough people do."
"Learning is acquiring knowledge. Learning and applying what you learned is acquiring wisdom."

NOTE:
If YOU ever get to read this, thanks for the short chat about your LOTR:TTT views. I am grateful I still have someone to talk to who can relate to me somehow. I missed that kind of chat since one of my best buds left for the U.S. Thanks in advance for purchasing the David Day book for me. Hope I can watch the movie with you. I know it will be so much fun.