I’ve loved traveling since I was a little girl. We didn’t visit faraway and exotic places during my childhood, but at least three or four times a year, we all piled into my father’s Buick and took road trips to see family in Alabama and Georgia.
One night, we stopped at a local diner to grab a snack and stretch our legs. My younger brother Carlos ordered a hot cocoa. Once seated, he precariously placed the hot liquid near the table’s edge. After a few moments, my father cautioned him to move the mug. My brother brushed off this warning with the usual pre-teen nonchalance.
A few moments later, my father warned him again. And just as he was about to brush off another warning, the hot liquid spilled and splattered all over my brother’s legs. “Oh sh**,” he shrieked as he jumped up, quickly catching himself when he remembered he was with my parents. I watched as he tried to pull his jeans away from his legs because the hot liquid was burning his skin. My father looked at him, shook his head and offered the words so few of us want to hear when we get caught out there in life: “I told you so!”
The truth is that very few of us get to dark and hard places in life without warning. Unfortunately, we often choose to believe that the rules don’t apply to us. We convince ourselves that despite the writing on the wall, we will experience a different end.
I have found that the safest place to be when making decisions is surrounded by the counsel of trusted community. It is important that we remember:
1. Stupid Stands Alone: The odds of making wise decisions—or, moves—are greatly increased when we open ourselves up to the counsel of wise people. Others can provide valuable and sometimes unique perspectives based on their experiences and understanding. As we talk things through with people who have a proven track record of 1) making good decisions, 2) being balanced and 3) having our best interests at heart, we increase the odds of making the right choice.
2. Humility Preserves Honor: As a child, I looked forward to adulthood because I thought I wouldn’t have to listen to anybody. But life has taught me that part of being a mature adult is learning that our age doesn’t automatically equate to wisdom. Each and every step of our journey in life, we must be committed and submitted to the counsel of friends. We all have blind spots that make us more apt to lacking good judgment or making wise decisions. Our friends can often see what we can’t and their advice and counsel could save us from future heartbreak.
3. Submission Strengthens: Our misunderstanding of submission causes us to think of it as weakness. But nothing is further from the truth. The ability to step outside our short-term emotions and perspective in order to make the right long-term decision demonstrates strength. We submit every day in order to live at peace and in safety.
Do Your Work: Identify some key decisions you need to make. Have you invited wise counsel into your life? Make sure you get perspective from respected friends and family members before moving forward.
Define Your Wealth: Affirm out loud, “I respect and invite wise counsel into my life!”
Named the “North America’s Next Greatest Speaker” by eWomenNetwork, Coach Felicia is a Certified Empowerment Coach™ who empowers her clients to “Turn their Worth into Wealth” as she partners with them to DISCOVER their WORTH, DO the WORK and DEFINE their WEALTH. Get more insight, download the FREE “8 Choices Winners Must Make” seminar MP3 on her website.