Instructions

I’ve decided training really is not that much fun.  There is no doubt in my mind it helps if I am interested in the topic.  And it is said “interest governs memory.”  But exams are the pits.
There seems to be few things that deal with my ego as successfully as getting it wrong before I eventually get it right.  In a training setting that is bad enough really.  I would prefer it did not happen, but it does.
There are settings I find even worse though.  Like someone telling me something I do not want to hear but I know is right and I will need to pursue that course of action.  Talk about humble pie.
Yet for my own good I know it is the way to go. I may have even make the question rhetorical like “asking for a friend,” and although I am all ears try not to appear too keen.  To me the substance matters more than the source.  For me, it does not matter if I receive instruction from the least expected source or a guru.  Good advice is good advice as far as I am concerned, and I do well to take it on board.
More fool me I reckon if I despise instruction just because of where it comes from.  I would go so far as to say that it is better to be wise than rich.  Riches can disappear in an instant while received instruction is my companion for life.
There was a guy at the place where I worked in Townsville (GBRMPA).  He had a nose that told the story he had drunk too much.  He had been a switched-on kid, but life had got the better of him.  I will never forget something he said though it was four decades ago.  “Never assume.” 
That has stayed with me and although there have been times when I ignored it to my peril, it has often saved me angst as I have sought the truth of a matter for myself, rather than assuming it was true because of who said it.
I would go as far as to say the more I know the more I want to know.  Good advice to me is not limited to a booming voice almost impossible to ignore.  It is more often than not, said in passing, and the sayer often has no idea that what was said was life changing.
Good instruction is a great foundation in the physical universe, and I have found that goes for the moral universe as well.  I often think I know best, but am proved wrong.
No matter the scenario, sometimes when I refuse instruction I end up in a mess.  Whether it is in the classroom of school, work, or life, I end up the better for receiving sound instruction.