Do you have an answer for everything?
"You have an answer for everything don't you?"
Hm, I didn't know whether to answer.
I did have an answer for this question, and the answer is "no, I don't have an answer for EVERYTHING - because I haven't experienced everything... how could I possibly?"
But, at the time, and even still now, I felt this may not be the right "answer".
Am I NOT supposed to have an answer when I'm asked a question?
If you don't want me to have an answer, maybe don't ask me questions.
This was a very precarious spot.
I held my tongue to try to figure this scenario out.
"What, you got nothing to say?"
Again, of course I have an answer.
I had experienced this before. Several times. And the last two times the outcome was much better than the first few times because, well, I figured out the answer that worked best for me.
That's what we're supposed to do, right?
Experience things.
Gain better and better outcomes.
Figure out the answer that works for us.
And not repeat the same mistakes again.
Mistake begets Experience begets Wisdom.
But here I was, leveraging the outcome I had decided was the best possible outcome over several different experiences, being questioned by someone for whom this was their FIRST such experience, who asked me for advice, I gave it, and they didn't want to hear it, thinking that instead of being helpful I was trying to make them feel inferior in some way.
My intent was to be helpful in shortcutting their process by leveraging my experiences and making a suggestion.
They asked for my input.
It was not well-received.
Why ask someone for input if the reply is going to be questioning them with questions like "You have an answer for everything don't you?"
He didn't do as I suggested and had the same poor outcome.
I guess it was his lesson to learn on his own.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
You don't have to learn everything the hard way.
There are people who can help you shortcut anything you want to be, do, have, learn or discover.
You just have to be open to receive.
And know that nobody has the answer to everything, but there are people with that certain set of skills to answer the question you may have.
People who have experienced more than you in THAT area, regardless of their age or status.
“Work Less. Live More.”
- Charles Lee