Absolutes
Here is an ironic concept. Nothing in life is absolute.
Let me explain.
I think most things are not binary. There is rarely just one way to do something.
Examples: There is not one path to success. There is not one way to be happy. There is not one way to get a job. Etc. Etc.
When people give advice, often times they make it seem like there is just this one path you must follow. The reality is that that is rarely, if ever, the case. There are always more options.
That is the weird part about advice. Since we all have only lived one life, and made certain decisions, we can only imbue advice that we took or did not take in the past.
That is why empathy is so important. Empathy allows you to think like other people and make decisions with their perspective in mind.
Anyways, I try to stay away from absolutes. I find it very rare that any piece of advice or rhetoric is worth saying always or only. Thankfully, there always seems to be alternatives.
Note to myself: in writing, it can often seem like I’m writing in absolutes. But I understand that is wrong. It is challenging to add caveats when you know them to be true but still want to write about your opinion. Everything I write is just my thoughts, not “the law.”
Originally published at Jordan Gonen.
By jordangonen on January 21, 2017.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.