Obsessed with Expert Advice?
“Believe nothing no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense.” - Buddha
My dad had very strong views about what was good and what people (everyone) should do. If I stepped outside those boundaries I was punished with the withdrawal of affection and conversation, rather than encouraged to experience the natural consequences of my thoughts and actions. On one hand, that experience did introduce self-doubt and with it some damaging emotions like worry, anxiety, and fear. But my innate curiosity had me asking questions, having deep thoughts on certain situations, and testing out the waters of non-conformity.
Even as a young child I was not convinced that others, including my teachers, parents, elder siblings, friends, authors, world leaders, doctors, etc, had all the answers for me. After all, they weren’t in my body, how could they possibly know with certainty what was right for me.
Of course, I had the expectation that I needed to hear and take in the offerings and wisdom of others but I also had the conviction to experiment with what I was being told.
It’s easy to be manipulated in this society because right from the get-go when we have no choice but to be dependent on others, we are steered towards a principal that others know better. This inadvertently teaches us to suppress our own desires, inner knowing, and reasoning about the world.
The larger point goes to how seduced we all naturally get when we keep hearing the same thing over and over again. It eventually becomes the truth. Remember the School Milk program in the ’70s? This was an incredibly successful bit of advertising that has wormed its way into our brains and policies to make milk seem magical. Multiple studies show that there isn't an association between drinking more milk and having fewer bone fractures. Race theory stands out to me as possibly the worst propaganda of all. It has wreaked untold misery and been used to justify barbaric acts of colonialism, slavery, and even genocide.
I tried what propaganda said was one of the best ways to work out, and it damaged me. The espoused functional training turned out to be completely non-functional for me. I kept the routine up for three years, then ditched it and asked my body for guidance and I’ve never looked back.
All the good advice in the world won’t change that life, our body’s and mind’s response is unpredictable, and even counsel from an expert with an office wall adorned with degrees can’t guarantee a specific outcome. The experts don’t have all the answers. Sometimes there isn’t an answer, and there won’t be until we act and then learn the consequences of our choices. But if we choose to stay in a yellow, paper tiger mentality, chasing far more absolutes than there are, we will lose the value of exploratory growth.
I view life as one large experiment. Seeking out wisdom, science, advice from those who are living a life that appeals to me. It’s incredible to practice all this information and observe the results, and the smarter ones among us will change some things up if things aren’t working out. Then again, if it works, keep it in until it doesn’t work.
It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work for your friends, family or co-workers or this research study proves that it doesn’t. Or that expert (I’m alergic to the word ‘expert’) swears by something else. If it works, keep doing it until it doesn’t. Once it fails, move on.
When I breathe into the back of my skull and invite another kind of intelligence to merge with the intellect of others, something else, something amazing informs me. How about you? Try it out and comment below on your own personal experience 💫
