If you can't say anything nice...

I am really, really tired of unsolicited, negative advice when I am trying to share something I am doing with people. I have come to the conclusion that it is human nature to point out all the flaws when we hear of someone else's plans or ideas. While there are many things that come to mind here are just a couple of examples for clarification.

1) Africa
The first time I started talking about going to Africa to work with AIDS orphans the OVERWHELMING response was "That is so dangerous! You could get AIDS or some other really bad disease." Amazing. I managed to make it through 7 years of higher education, but no one thought I had the brains to do some homework on the dangers of traveling to a third world country and working with people infected with HIV. And throw out the window completely that I went as an answer to the Lord's call to minister to these children. Forget that I was stepping out in faith trusting in my Creator and His sovereignty.

2) My puppy*
I have talked about and thought about getting a puppy for a couple of years now. When I finally did, all I heard was how much work they are, and how hard it will be for me. Huh? I thought they trained themselves, and were perfect angels all the time.

I know that all of these pieces of "advice" were offered because people care about me. But unless someone specifically ASKS your opinion about a given topic....PLEASE don't burst their bubble with all the things that are wrong with the idea. Have a little faith that they are smart enough to have considered all sides of the scenario before committing to their decision. No decision is 100% perfect, and everything we do has some consequences. But odds are, if someone of reasonable intelligence has made a choice about something, the good out weighs the bad enough to be worth while. And they don't need you raining on their parade.

*please note that on the puppy advice there were several friends and family whose advice I did seek out....and I am not directing this at them because that is the point of asking for advice. This is in response to things said after the decision was made from outside parties.