Who spoke when I opened my mouth?

This year at Easter time, I was advised by someone to not eat too much chocolate. I had no intention of eating any chocolate at all - so I wondered why this comment was made.

When I challenged the comment, asking who was giving this advice, I was told it was the voice of reason because eating too much chocolate could make one ill. 

What I heard was an instruction that my friend would have heard 50 years ago from her parents and perhaps grandparents. I have spent many years on this Earth, successfully raising my family and supporting myself, and I am certain that I know how much or how little chocolate to consume.

So often we regurgitate trite sayings and instructions from way back without wondering who is actually doing the talking.

It is a fact that many of us decree that when we become a parent, we will not make the mistakes that our parents made. Then the next generation comes along, saying the same thing. And one day, we open our mouths to speak - and Mother (from way back) speaks through us. And we are startled! Mirror mirror on the wall, I am my parent after all!

When offering advice, instead of using a phrase that may be decades old, speak from your heart. Speak from your own experience. The words will be richer and have so much more value. Because they come from you. And what better offering can any of us make, than sharing ourselves?