Sunday Scribblings: Two Cents

Roadchick considers herself to be the idiot child of the Sunday Scribblings crowd - a bit of the Klass Klown, if you will. But, Roadchick read several of the selections that were posted on this topic and she was impressed. (She can recognize good writing, even if unable to perpetrate it herself.)

One writer sparked a chain of remembrance in Roadchick...all the advice that she has received over the years, usually unsolicited, mostly unwanted, and always from people that had her "best interests" at heart.

It amazes Roadchick that people are always so willing to offer the benefit of their wisdom and in doing so, rarely make the effort to temper their advice with kindness, because, after all - this is for your own good! No matter if it hurts. No matter if it cuts straight to the heart and makes you bleed. The Giver moves away, into their own life, never realizing that their careless words will be pulled out and worried over far into the future, in those dark moments in a hopeless void and be woven into the litany of self-doubt that is on an endless playback loop.

Roadchick cannot count the number of times she has been told: "You don't want to do that, dear. It cannot possibly work out." And sometimes, Roadchick would listen and let a dream or opportunity pass her by and be left to play the game of "What If".

Roadchick cannot count the number of times she has been told: "You MUST do this. If you don't, you will absolutely RUIN your life." And Roadchick has enough of the rebel in her that she will RUN the other direction from this type of advice because she has found that it usually comes from people trying to live vicariously through others. That was not her dream - it never was.

Roadchick is honest enough to admit that most of the Two Cents she has been subjected to has come from members of her family. The time that she wanted to pursue Fashion Merchandising in college and her mother was convinced that a secretarial school was a Much Wiser Choice. And now, twenty years later? Roadchick does neither and she loves what she is doing. But it took a lot of years and a lot of fights for Roadchick to be "allowed" to follow her own star and not hitch to someone else's. Roadchick had never hitched to another's star, but was wily enough to conceal it until her own course was assured.

And, in the interest of Honesty and Disclosure, Roadchick is guilty of putting her Two Cents in, often unasked and mostly unwanted. Roadchick's kindergarten teacher saw it early on: "Roadchick likes to "help" with others' worksheets." Translation: "Roadchick is a bossy, nosy little wench who won't keep her eyes on her own paper."

Roadchick's Best Friend knows this about Roadchick and loves Roadchick enough to tell her: "Keep your eyes on your own worksheet." This code phrase is enough for Roadchick to STOP dispensing advice like Lortab and mind her own business. Because, Roadchick is pretty convinced that if people would just listen to her, their problems would be solved because she can see it SO clearly. Obviously, Roadchick should run for public office.

Roadchick has resolved to keep her Two Cents to herself, in the bank and earning interest, until she is asked for her input. Sometimes, Roadchick has to bite her tongue. And sometimes, she has to walk away before the advice just pops out. But Roadchick has resolved to be a kinder, gentler Roadchick...like a million points of light (or something similar) so she keeps on trying.

But, if you're in need of advice, Patient Reader, Auntie Roadchick is ready and willing to assist you in managing your personal life. But you have to ask, first.