Navigating Advice and Support Relationships

I have to respect that.

I can't force my opinion on someone.

I can't force my experience on someone. Welcome to the Only Child Diaries podcast. I'm your host, tracy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life, that you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting, while doing so with humor and light. Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries podcast. Child Diaries podcast.

Today I want to talk about advice, but not really advice, hold on. It's more than that. It's providing assistance and support to people around us, and not only that, but how it affects us and how we work through that. In a way, there's a lot more to it than just giving advice. Sometimes, when you're in situations, whether it be with your family or your friends or people that you work with there comes opportunities to provide counsel, to provide your thoughts, to provide your opinions and to share your experience. Sometimes you're asked for advice and sometimes you're not. Depends on the situation. It depends on the person who's experiencing the problem right, the problem right Now. I've found throughout the years that sometimes, yes, I do have experience that I could share with people. And I've also found that sometimes, if advice is not asked for, advice is not asked for, it's not really welcome, right? So I try to keep my advice to a minimum, because if your advice is unsolicited, it's pretty much a waste of your breath, of your efforts.

So what do you do? Well, you have to tread carefully. If you're an empath, like I am, if you care about people, if you a way to gently share what you know. Now, how is your advice? How are your thoughts? How is your experience accepted? How is it received? Interesting point right, point right. Well, sometimes it's accepted, sometimes it's welcome, sometimes it's glossed over. And what does this do to us? If it's glossed over? I found myself feeling a little perturbed, but I have to remind myself that maybe my advice wasn't requested, right? It's a double-edged sword. You want to help. Sometimes you have to help in the way that the person wants to be helped.

It's a tricky situation. Does it sound like I'm speaking in double entendres? Does it sound like I'm dancing around an issue? Well, maybe I am, but I think we've all been in a situation where we've tried to provide support to people, where we've tried to provide support to people and our support or our ideas hasn't been accepted. What do you do? Well, you do the best you can. You share what you know Because, let's face it, if you've been in a similar situation, it's like watching history repeat itself.

Right, try to prevent people that you're around now from experiencing some of, maybe, the negative repercussions that you experienced previously, but it doesn't always work. Sometimes people have to learn their own lessons and come to their own conclusions in their own way, and come to their own conclusions in their own way. So you have to realize or at least I've learned that I have to realize that people, everyone is on their own journey. Everyone is coming to the knowledge that they need in their own time, in their own way, and I have to respect that. I can't force my opinion on someone. I can't force my experience on someone. I do the best I can and I have good intentions, and at some point I just have to say, okay, I've told them what I think would be helpful and leave it at that.

You don't want to go out of your way too much and you don't want to try too hard. You've done what you can and that's important. Sometimes it's important just to try. Sometimes it's more important just to step back. Sometimes you don't know the whole story behind the other person's problem, maybe because they don't have the time to share it with you. Person's problem Maybe because they don't have the time to share it with you, maybe because they don't have the ability to communicate everything to you, right? So the best thing to do is just to be supportive, to be there, to listen if they want to share something with you, and to say I'm here if you need me. It's an important lesson, I think, in this world.

Well, folks, now I have to go take care of my own stuff. I'm way behind on everything, including the dishes and the mail, but next week we'll tackle another topic together. I hope you'll join me. If you like this episode, please follow the Only Child Diaries podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on and consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review. It helps others to find us. Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well. Visit my Instagram page, only Child Diaries or Facebook Only Child Diaries Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Tracy Wallace and these are the Only Child Diaries.