The power of choice

A client asked me recently, "What's the difference between advice and guidance?"

I went to the dictionary first, and found that advice is defined as "an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct, etc." and that guidance is "the act or function of guiding; leadership; direction."

They seem pretty similar, don't they? Maybe there's not really much difference at all.

It's my opinion that advice and guidance are often just that - opinion. And maybe the opinion is based on experience, and maybe not. And maybe that experience is even relevant, and maybe not.

What's useful, when offered advice or guidance, is to remember that we have the power to choose. We can listen to advice, and then determine whether we will follow it or not. We can ask for guidance, and then decide if we are willing to be guided.

For some of us, the best journeys are those of exploration, where there is no guide and we simply experience what's around the next corner in the moment of its unfolding. For others, the journey is best enjoyed when we have some idea what to expect. And neither of these approaches is "better" or "worse" - just different. The gift may be in knowing yourself well enough to follow your own path.