New Year’s Eve is also my wife Leigh’s birthday. We had some folks over for a little get together, and it was great. A guest’s snickerdoodles were the most scrumptious, but I think Leigh’s blintzes and my meatballs were winners, too.

I learned to play “Magic: The Gathering” (the card game) and was left with a deck so I can play with Leigh, who also got a vampire-themed deck for her birthday.

That’s all I have to say about that!

“I don’t know why he has to always learn the hard way.”

I’ve heard that from a lot of my elders.

“It’s like he thinks I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Indeed, that’s pretty close to the mark.

I learn by doing, but I’m not opposed to taking advice from someone else. I don’t take advice from just anyone, though. Just because you’re a family member or an old friend doesn’t automatically mean you’re the best source for worldly life-guiding wisdom.

Share your past

If you have advice for someone, and you feel you’re qualified because of experience, you ought to share the experience in order to gain credibility. You might worry about looking foolish or looking less than perfect, but in reality, this just makes you more real, down-to-earth: believable.

Tell the person what you did that made you wiser. Field their questions about it. You’ll make a better impression than you would have up on your soap box.