Listening to the dings in life

I love my new car with the exception of one little feature.   If you don't buckle up, it has a very annoying beep that is quite loud and takes forever to go off.   While I always buckle up, I have to lock / unlock the gate, so I tend to not buckle up until that is done.   I also have a bad habit of undoing it as I pull into the parking lot at work  before I come to a complete stop.  Bad idea.   It doesn't let up and can be in fact, quite obnoxious about it.  It will nag you until you do something about it.    I can just imagine that the sound of my car is about what teenagers hear when their parents try to advise them.   Just loud noise.

While the dinging is annoying, it has it's purpose.   It is their for my protection.  I can tune it out, or I can heed it's advice.   It is always in my best interest to heed it's warning and buckle up.  It is there not to bug me, but to keep me safe.  Ultimately,  I have the choice to buckle up,  or just keep listening to the dinging.

The same thing applies to our lives.  We are always faced with decisions that should not be rushed into.    How do you know if your decisions are sound?     The human heart can't be trusted with some decisions.   We can distort the facts to back up our decisions and make them a reality in our minds.       My husband is currently looking into a career change.  Everything in him wants to say yes to the idea.   But that would be foolish on our part.   He is talking to different people and getting their advice.    Some of that advice isn't what we want to hear.   But as much as we don't like some of what we are hearing, it is good sound advice from people with some  experience in that field.  We have the choice to ignore it,  or listen to it.  Ignoring it and going with what we want  to do instead, could have detrimental effects on our household budget and our lives.   We would ultimately regret it.  Real quick.   The impulse to act on what we want instead of listening to sound advice usually comes back to haunt us. 

 

Nobody likes to listen to the advice of others.  It is just not in our nature to do so.  We all feel competent in our decision making skills, especially the ones that  are ultimately ours to make.  But there is some valuable lessons to be learned through the mistakes and life experiences of others.   Ultimately, not listening to good dings in life  will almost always hurt in the long run.  Long after it is too late.

 

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Proverbs 12:15