A dear friend of mine shared this maxim recently and it really stuck. Here’s the gist, no one – and I mean no one – can actually understand your situation when you’re making the hard decisions. It’s you and your circumstances; not them and theirs.
I really hate the phrase “trust me” when someone is offering up their opinion or advice. Perhaps in their situation, the decision they made was right for them. But that does not automatically mean, should you find yourself in similar circumstances, that their course of action – or inaction – is right or appropriate for yours. You’re a completely different person with a completely different dynamic and energy.
Butt out.
It’s really none of your business.
You don’t exist in the circumstance.
Therein lies the rub: Everyone thinks everything is their business nowadays. Everyone has an opinion on everything, and they think that we're interested in their opinion, thought, feeling on every issue, question, and circumstance in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that most of us don't actually care.
When I was MUCH younger, I coined my own phrase... if I was upset or feeling blue, everyone who saw me would ask what was wrong. I frankly got very tired, very quickly of telling every Tom, Dick and Harry -- so instead I reserved the sharing of my self with those whom I thought actually cared. The phrase I coined was:
"There's a fine line between curiosity and concern."