It is often said that listening to the advice of close friends and family members is the best way to learn about life. Some people might agree with this statement because friends and family have known them for a long time and they can offer good advice for them. In my opinion, listening from others might be a good way to learn about life, but not the best way because I beleive that reading a book or experiencing something in person can be a best way to learn about our lives.
To begin with, reading a book gives us great principles for better life. Of course, listening from others can be helpful when it comes to wisdom of life. However, our friend or family might have narrow perspectives or lack of experience just like us. On the other hand, reading a book can be a great alternatives of gaining advice from others because writers usually think over principles of life or have a lot of experience in a specific area. For example, reading Benjamin Franklin's autobiograhy gave me great inspiration about my life. I could learn sincerity and modesty which is important principles of my life while reading his autography. If I spent time with my friend to discuss our life, I could not learn these profound wisdom of life.
Moreover, people can learn better about their lives by exeriencing something in person. Listening from others is a indirect experience. Thus people listened from others can not understand the full meaning of other people's advice. However, people can learn fully about their lives from their direct experience by achiving or failing one's goal. For example, when I graduated from university, I was confident getting a job because I think that I was qualified to be a great marketer. However, I find myself fail to find a job. I was so depressed and realize that I was not qualified for the job I wanted to be in. Learning from this bitter experience, I took up the slack, prepared what I was lacking in and finally got the dream job. I already had known many friends who couldn't get the job, but I could not feel it as a real situation.
In brief, getting advice from others is not the best way to learn about life. People can learn from reading books or experiencing something in a direct way. People can learn the wisdom of life by seeing, experiencing and meditating, not just talking with others. Thus, alternative way of learning about our lives can not be underestimated. |