I get a few e-newsletters in my inbox. I really try to limit what I allow, because I hold on to words like nothing will ever be published again. My email folders tend to bulge. I do allow about ten people to make it into my daily or weekly read, and one of them is Jennifer Louden. Visit her blog here. This article is called "But This Will Make You Happier." Any of her blog posts will be pretty entertaining if you want to read on. She writes about self care, accepting yourself, and serving others.
She tells about a time when she was hiking and listening to the conversation of some other people on the trail. A younger person is trying to talk his mother into using his aluminum trekking poles instead of the old wooden stick she is carrying, and mom is just not interested. Jennifer realizes, as she listens, that people don't like receiving advice and/or recommendations. She laughs because she loves to give advice. She writes, "Mom didn’t need a better walking stick. Most of us don’t need the solutions we press on each other. But we sure do need people to walk in the woods with us, side by side."
I also laughed as I read her insights, because I'm also a person who loves to share good ideas, products, things that work, advice. And I realize that, seriously, no one wants to know the songs on my "Energy" playlist from iTunes or what kind of yogurt I prefer or what self-help book I just finished. And grammar: no one wants to hear it. I'm glad I've had this insight...this little aha moment...because it relieves a lot of pressure. My new motto: "Keep quiet and carry on."
