I Could No Sooner Choose a Favorite Star in the Heavens

11. The best advice you've ever heard, or ever been given.

I wish I could think of some great advice I've been given, or even great advice I've heard...but I can't. I have been given a lot of advice in my life. I just can't remember one that really stands out and has affected me.

You seem to get lots of advice at certain milestones in your life - when you graduate high school, when you go to college, when you graduate college, when you get married, get your first job, have a baby. That is when everyone really loves giving advice. Luckily for me, I have people in my life that I trust and I depend on their advice.

I looked to my mom for advice during my pregnancy with Lydia. I looked to my mom and sister for advice when Lydia was an infant. And now, I try to get advice from anyone I can on how best to handle certain situations with Lydia. I have never been the person who hates getting advice. I may not use all the advice I get, but I definitely enjoy listening to it.

One of the worse pieces of advice I received after Lydia was born was to "sleep while the baby sleeps". This is ideal for parents who get maternity and paternity leave, for stay-at-home moms and dads. This is not good advice for the new mom whose husband has a broken leg so he can't help much with the baby. It's really not good advice for the new mom who had to go back to work a week after her baby was born (and work from 7:00 to 6:30). I couldn't sleep while Lydia slept - I had to work! And now, if I slept while Lydia slept, nothing would get done around the house and I wouldn't have any time to myself. Now, of course, if I had had Lydia in different circumstances, I would totally agree with that advice. But it just didn't work for me at the time.

I think that the best advice you can give someone - anyone - is to have faith, and that a lot can happen in a year (or a week or a month). I have always been that person who has faith that everything happens for a reason, and everything is in God's hands. Now, this doesn't mean that you don't need to work for what you want, or even hope to better yourself or your situation. But, it does mean that you need to trust in God and if you get what you wanted, great, but if not, then it wasn't part of God's plan. I also know that in hard times, if you just trust God, everything will turn out okay.