Advise

I have a friend (I was best man at his wedding) who joined a different denomination.  He was a minister.  The denomination he joined, believed in limited tenure in one place.  Every few years he was advised where he was to go.
What fascinated me, was the different people he came across.  At some places the people were dynamic.  There was no holding them back.  They hung on every word.  Other places were lifeless.  Saying “flogging a dead horse” would sum it up really.  No matter what was said, most people were like a brick wall.  Very little penetrated.
I asked him, what do you do if the people are lifeless?  His answer spoke volumes to me.  He said words to the effect, I speak to myself.
To me, that is the best any of us can do at any time.  I am not responsible for others, but I am responsible for me.  My experience may relate to others at times, and for me that is great.  At other times what I say is meaningless to another.  I reckon, so be it.  There are others out there that have experiences the person can relate to – just not me.
Speaking to myself, is a weird thing.  If no one else is around, and I verbalize stuff, I think I am righty thought of as a but of a wierdo.  Yet I think we all talk to ourselves all the time.  It is our internal dialogue.  It is where decisions come from.
When we purchased another car, the experience of others was real important to us.  Reliability and safety were big issues to us. 
The reason reliability and safety mattered is, a number of years ago Merril had been driving through what is now south bank, late at night.  The car conked out.  In those days that area was one you did not want to be in late at night.  Back then, there were no mobile phones.  Breaking down meant a person walked to the nearest phone booth.  She made the walk, and an organization came and restarted her car.  They then took off!  The car conked out again almost immediately.  This time she called her dad, who came and was upset his daughter had been just left.  We did not want a car that was given to breaking down.
More recently Merril had been caught in a flash flood.  The water rose around her.  She got out of the situation, but it was noted what would be better.  We wanted a higher car.
We went with what we now have, as our experience of the make, and the experience of others had been good.  The vehicle we now have, met our criteria.
Hearing from others is important when they have been down a road I have not been down, but I am going down.  The last thing I need is dodgy brothers.    Again Merril had people working on her roof.  When she asked how they were going, they said oh we caught a brown snake and it is in that box.  Examining the box revealed it was no longer there.  Their response “oh it must have escaped.”  I think the last thing any of us want, is to know a brown snake is on the loose, and near-by.  They did not make the list to call when work was needed.
We all have life experiences others can find useful.  It may not be relevant at the time, but there is a good change it will be needed when it is needed.