"I told you so..."

The previous post i wrote was two years back. And today, in a recessionary economic scenario, most of that has come true. A few days before i was talking to one of the friends who had inspired me to write " Another Irrational Exuberance". My conversation with him made me think again about something I always thought of. And so I am penning down my thoughts here.

When a friend in distress reveals a problem to you, there are two options. One is to just listen and give the person a streak of optimism and hope for the future. The other one is very easy. It is to blame the person for what happened and say, " I told you so...You should have listened to me". Most often we do the second thing, though we might feel genuinely for the other person. But then, if we contemplate and place ourselves in that person's situation, we can safely conclude that this was certainly not the reply the friend was expecting. Well, you may be right in the first instance but are equally likely as any one else to make mistakes, especially when it comes to thinking about others.

So the next time a friend reveals any problem to you, please dont act God. Just sit back and listen. The maximum you can say to console the person is to learn from their mistakes and move on. Because if you can't lend a patient ear, then there is no point for the other person in having you as a friend.