The Folly of Going It Alone
In today’s society, we are constantly bombarded with individuality. We are told that we can be anything, conquer anything, and have things our own way. We are told we don’t need anyone– except whomever it is that wants our time or money. This feeds into our natural tendencies towards looking out for one’s self.
But there’s a reason that advertisers and others want you to look only to yourself for answers– because you’re likely not to come to the right one.
The wise king of Proverbs reminds us of this:
Plans fail when there is no counsel,
Proverbs 15:22
but with many advisers they succeed.
It reminds me of the childhood cartoon Pinocchio. Many of you may know the Disney version of the movie, but in that story, the sly fox and his friend twice persuade Pinocchio to go after his own dreams, contrary to Jiminy Cricket’s protest or Pinocchio’s thought of talking to or going back to his father. And we know that first, he ends up a slave to Stromboli, and then on Pleasure Island– turning into a donkey.
Now, many of us say we would never make such foolish decisions, but many times we do make decisions without taking others into consideration, or without all the information or counsel, and it leads to what we consider short-term gains, but a long-term loss.
When I was first married, and we were looking for an apartment, the first place that showed up in our budget we went to see. It was a house that was divided into four apartments, and the one that was available had two rooms on one floor and two on another– and we weren’t sure that we could get our couch in the living room. But it fit the budget so we put down a deposit. When we went the next day to show my parents, they couldn’t believe we’d picked such a bad part of town, and that one of the panes of glass in what would be our door was broken that next day.
We were out the $300, but we learned a good lesson about getting advice from others before making decisions. It’s important to get advice and counsel when making a decision– especially multiple points of view. At the end, make a decision and don’t let yourself be caught in analysis paralysis. Don’t go it alone.
