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Dinnae worry

It figures that it was the daughter of a Scottish born judge who told me when I was fretful and fussing "Dinnae worry and keep your own counsel".  Dinnae fash yersel.  It was good advice.  But taking advice and following it require more than appreciating the fact a suggestion has been made and vaguely understanding what that suggestion means.

Father Lonergan taught that the old-fashioned Scottish common sense was not so much a stock of pre-assembled knowledge that one can consult for a fix, but rather an active judging power that allows a person to assess a situation, compare all relevant insights, check progress, and trouble shoot until the problem is solved.
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So, for example, "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost" are perfectly good proverbs recorded in plain, idiomatic language.  But when choosing a course of action, one cannot simply heed one or the other--either checking the depth of the lake before diving in, or rushing headlong into something, buoyed with the confidence that "Fortune favours the bold" (which is something Machiavelli recommended to princes and potentates).
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The most prudent approach to taking action is to coordinate insights--weigh and balance potential consequences of different contemplated approaches and come up with a plan based on best judgment, and with the proviso that outcomes of even the best laid plans may be unintended or unforeseen, which may require retargeting and multiple attempts.

I still have recourse to the advice I was given--Dinnae worry and keep your own counsel.  In our fallen, post-lapsarian state, it is vain to seek perfection (those who try invariably limp towards the unattainable), but in true Scottish fashion, we can certainly meet our trials and seek to improve, as long as we continue to keep the faith and realize that there but for the grace of God go I.
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