Terrible shooting incident. Particularly terrible part was that many children died. We tend to see possibilities in the future of the young, and the "possibilities" are endless. We feel shame for the loss of young lives much the same way as we feel regrets for something we did not do. Unrealized possibilities are limitless and weigh heavy on one's heart.
Now I get back to what I wrote, titled "Your advice is not for everybody."
For me Facebook is basically a glorified and publicized photo album. Also in Facebook, people provide advice, anecdotes, personal experiences and their morals to others, freely and generously. It's good. The stories we tell to others also tell others about us.
However, if someone tells others directly that "Your advice is not for everybody", a few will be offended, although they should say "Sure, you are right" and smile.
Why offended? Because we tend to forget who "everybody" is. "Everybody" is a collection of people with different background, past, different positions for issues and individuality. One advice won't cover them all. Only one common thing among everybody is that we eventually physically die. Beyond that, we are different and we need to respect the fact.
Sales and Marketing people are forced to understand this concept. They know from experience that they can't sell one thing to everybody. When they want to sell something, they analyze customers, segment the market, and try to identify their customer for improved sales.
Advice is something similar to commodity. Advice is an idea designed to help a particular situation, and the target "customer" may be more defined or limited than we think.
Let's take Suze Orman. Her cable TV financial show (is fun and I like it) is toward the financially uninitiated who likely belong to the lower class and the middle class. Her show is not exactly designed for the rich with high degree of financial education or with no concern for retirement.
Another example. "Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated... but we are initiated, aren't we Bruce?" (Bane, The Dark Knight Rises). Of course the Batman's firecrackers that worked against many didn't work against Bane. Most education work like that. You know and are prepared, or you don't know and leave an opening that can be vulnerable.
We all come to this world without knowing a thing, and during our personal journey in life we learn. As such, an advice pertinent to get a stage through may not be relevant to someone who has gotten past the stage, or has not reached the stage yet.
That is why even the Bible looks schizophrenic because the book is in a sense a collection of advice. The advices are targeted to a full bunch of different people. Some are valid to a group of people but not to other groups.
Wise people use discretion. Common advice for receiving advice is, "Take something that works for you".
Some professional advisers, such as medical doctors and lawyers, are not going to give advice so casually. Medical doctors require seeing the patient to make diagnosis. They require attention in person, even short, to stand by their diagnosis. Casual advice for an undiagnosed, clinically depressed person could be harmful or even get him killed. Knowing the worst case scenario, the pros take their business seriously.
In contrast, in Facebook, we likely don't choose the "target". We throw it to our "friends" and hope it sticks to some.
The bottom line is, like medication, we need to know the advice we need, and use discretion to free and available advice that are floating around. To know which advice is relevant to me, I need to know who I am now, and who I want to be. I need to know where I stand, what I do, and where I need to change. The key is constant education and renewal.
It sounds like an endless cycle. But like Buddha said, "A teacher appears when you are ready". It's not the same, and the personal journey continues.
I'm writing this because the Year end approaches (if you believe the Mayan calendar, the world's end. haha), and the winter break is a major planning time for me. I am preaching to self. Think more. Now.
