If It's Hard to Listen to, It Might Be Worth Listening To

From the moment we are born to the moment we die, people are always trying to give us advice and tell us what to do. Some people do it to help; some people to do it to hurt; and some people do it to hear the sound of their own voice. Sometimes we listen and profit; other times we don't and suffer. Of course, the real key to advice is its source. Who is giving it? Is it somebody who just wants to give advice or is it somebody who truly cares about you? (Note that somebody who cares about you can be totally different from somebody you care about!) There is folktale from the Middle East (depending on where you source it, it can be found in Iraq, India, and even China) that warns us that even if the advice is not something we want to hear, if it comes from someone who truly cares about us, we should heed it without anger.

A man (some stories have him as a king) had a falcon that he had owned for many years. The falcon was a grat hunter, and both the falcon and man had developed a great fondness for each other. One day, the man was out with the falcon hunting. It was particularly hot, and after a while he came to an oasis where water was cascading down from a high rock. The man's falcon flew off his should and circled as the man took out his cup and filled it with the cool water. But just as he was about to drink, the falcon swooped down and knocked the cup from his hands, spilling the water. Slightly annoyed, the man picked up his cup, refilled it, and was about to drink when the falcon knocked the cup from his hand again. When the falcon did this a third time, the man was angry, grabbed his falcon, and throttled it, killing it. After doing this deed, the man's curiousity overcame him and he climbed to the top of the rock. There, at the edge of the water at the top, sat a deadly viper. Its mouth was open and drops of poison were dripping into the water. Only then did the man realize that his faithful falcon had saved his life, and he lamented his loss for the rest of his days.

Advice and helpful hints are a tricky thing. But even trickier is overcoming our own pride and ego to understand that those who really care about us will give us advice that we don't want to hear. Sure, sometimes this advice will be misguided and wrong, but the majority of the time it is absolutely right. This is because people that really care about us only have our best interests at heart. When they do, sometimes what they tell us is not what we want to hear. But listen anyway!

Have a question, conundrum, or problem? Send me an email and I'll find an answer for you in folk and fairy tales!

Or, you can check out my book The Wisdom of Folktales Lessons on How to Live Happily Ever After available here, at BarnesandNoble.com, at Amazon.com, and at Smashwords.com!