Bad Advice on Love, Relationships, and Health: How Can We Best Respond?

Bad Advice. We've all received it.

"Marry the first man or lady you fall in love with. You'll save time. And if it doesn't work out, you can always get a divorce."

"It's better to say what you think than to stuff your feelings, even if you hurt someone. It's just as bad of a sin to think something than it is to say it."

"You only live once. You may as well eat whatever you like. You have to go sometime; why not go happy?"

What is the secret to sorting out the bad advice? How do you respond to tacky, even harmful suggestions by well-meaning or misguided people?

First. pray and seek God's will in his word, the Bible. Of course, the Scriptures aren't going to have detail about what color car to purchase or what town to move to. But they contain God's life, so reading them will prime your mind to think His thoughts.

Second, ask someone who's had more experience in life than you have, especially if the matter involves a relationship or the outcome of your future. The more input we receive from godly, wise sources the more likely we are to make excellent choices.

Third and last, read as much as you can about the topic at hand. With the plethora of information available to us at a keystroke, there's no reason to not inform ourselves of all the knowledge we can.

Have you ever received Bad Advice on Love, Relationships, and/or Health? How did you respond? 

How Do You Respond to Unasked-for Advice?

Ah, the joys of unasked-for advice. I love it when people tell me things I don’t want to know, for my own good. In one recent case, for the good of some ducks.

When I shared on Facebook my plan to picnic at a park and feed ducks on Mother’s Day, a friend advised, “Take WHOLE GRAIN crackers for the ducks.” Oh, of course. I wouldn’t dream of giving wild ducks anything less than the finest crackers, especially since some of them might be mothers!

That experience reminded me of some other bits of unsolicited wisdom, which I freely share with you. I’m sure you enjoy people advising you as much as I do.

When I was a mother-to-be: “If you have a girl, you should name her Kevina, after her daddy (my husband’s name is Kevin). And if I’d married Brad, would you tell me to name my baby Bradina? Aha.

 

As a writer: “If your husband doesn’t support your writing, divorce him.” Oh, I see—this way I can support myself financially as well as emotionally. How clever. From the same writing guru: “Don’t read books on how to improve your writing skills. They’ll only confuse you.” All righty, then, I’ll stay a mediocre writer, and confuse all the editors I send my stories to. That’ll show ‘em!

When I had a cold: “Tie a bunch of garlic around your neck.”

Yippee. Then I can have the entire universe to myself, and rest all I want!

 

I know, I know. People who give unasked-for advice are striving to obey God’s command to love one another, and only wish to help. I sincerely appreciate that. As I’m sure the ducks will, too, when they munch down their whole grain crackers.

 

How do you respond to Unasked-for Advice?

Bad Advice: Spit it Out!

 

I know this is snarky but I love it!

 

Bad advice. At least once, we’ve all listened to it, then wished we’d spit it in a bucket somewhere on the back forty.

As serious writers, spouses, parents, or cooks, we are forever looking for ways to improve our skills and reach more hearts. We read books, attend conferences, and go on as many blogs as we can, to gobble up the best advice possible.

But sometimes we come across a bit of bad advice. If we know it’s bad, then good for us. We can spit it out like a cow spits out the stubble, only swallowing the grain. If we’re unaware it’s bad, then not so good. We can go down a wrong path in our career or our life, or at the very least, waste precious time.

A frustrated writer once told me

not to read craft books, stating that my writing was good enough, and those books would only confuse me. Had I listened to this bad advice, I would be a much poorer writer than I am today. With the help of all the craft books I’ve read in spite of that poor advice, I believe my writing is improving every time I sit down to type, or get out my journal to muse.

Have you ever read or heard some bad advice concerning your writing, or another skill you take seriously? Did you know it was bad, or did you listen to it, later realizing it wasn’t sound?

 

How do you sift advice to weed out the stubble from the precious grain that nourishes?

Recognize Bad Advice and Winner of Ditzy Doings Prize

Bad advice. At least once, we’ve all listened to it, then wished we’d spit it in a bucket somewhere.  

As serious writers, musicians, parents, or friends, we are forever looking for ways to improve our skill and reach more hearts with our lives. We read books, attend conferences, and go on as many blogs as we can, to get the best advice possible.  

But sometimes we come across a bit of bad advice. If we know it’s bad, good. We can spit it out like a cow spits out the stubble, only swallowing the grain. If we’re unaware that it’s bad, then not good. We can go down a wrong path in our career, or at the very least, waste precious time.  

A frustrated writer once told me not to read craft books, stating that my writing was good enough and those books would only confuse me. Had I listened to this bad advice, I would be a much poorer writer than I am today. With the help of all the craft books I’ve read, in spite of that poor advice, I believe my writing is improving every time I sit down to type, or get out my journal to muse.  

Have you ever read or heard some bad advice concerning your writing, or another skill? Did you know it was bad, or did you listen to it, later realizing it wasn’t sound? How do you sift advice to weed out the stubble from the precious grain that nourishes?

And now, the Winner of our Ditzy Doings Prize goes to...

GLENDA CHILDERS of  Gg-notes on the journey

Congratulations, Glenda, for making us feel so smart, and for being courageous enough to share your fun moment!

If you'd like to see what ditzy doing won Glenda a tropy and a $5 gift card, click on this link: Win a Prize for the Most Ditzy Doing!

Good Advice-filled Day,

Bad Advice: Spit it out!

Bad advice. At least once, we’ve all listened to it, then wished we’d spit it in a bucket somewhere on the back forty.

As serious writers, spouses, parents, or cooks, we are forever looking for ways to improve our skills and reach more hearts. We read books, attend conferences, and go on as many blogs as we can, to gobble up the best advice possible.

But sometimes we come across a bit of bad advice. If we know it’s bad, good. We can spit it out like a cow spits out the stubble, only swallowing the grain. If we’re unaware that it’s bad, then not good. We can go down a wrong path in our career or our life, or at the very least, waste precious time.

A frustrated writer once told me not to read craft books, stating that my writing was good enough, and those books would only confuse me. Had I listened to this bad advice, I would be a much poorer writer than I am today. With the help of all the craft books I’ve read in spite of that poor advice, I believe my writing is improving every time I sit down to type, or get out my journal to muse.

Have you ever read or heard some bad advice concerning your writing, or another skill you take seriously? Did you know it was bad, or did you listen to it, later realizing it wasn’t sound? How do you sift advice to weed out the stubble from the precious grain that nourishes?

Bad Advice

Bad advice. At least once, we’ve all listened to it, then kicked ourselves for being stupid.

As serious writers, we are forever looking for ways to improve our skill and change more lives with our words. We read books, attend conferences, go on as many fellow writers’ blogs as we can, to get the best advice possible. But sometimes we come across a bit of bad advice. If we know it’s bad, good. We can spit it out like a cow spits out the worthless stubble, and only swallow the nourishing grain. If we are unaware that it’s bad, that's not good. We can go down a wrong path in our career, or at the very least, waste precious time.

A frustrated writer once told me not to read craft books, that my writing was good enough, and those books would only confuse me. Had I listened to this bad advice, I would be a much poorer writer than I am today. Notice I didn’t say I wouldn’t be as great a writer as I am--- I am not a great writer. Yet. I hope to be one someday, with the help of all the craft books I am reading, in spite of that person’s bad advice.

Now it's your turn. Have you ever read or heard some bad advice concerning your writing, or writing in general? Did you know it was bad, or did you listen to it, later realizing it wasn’t sound? Perhaps we can learn from each others’ mistakes, and avoid taking bad advice in the future. Blessings on you as you write for your Audience of ONE...