What was the harshest advice you ever received?

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is dole out advice. We've all heard myriad time-tested adages that seem to ring true at one time or another and it's easy to pull them out of your back pocket when a friend or family member is facing a personal crisis. But how well do you take advice, especially when it's a little harsh? We checked in with a handful of Canadian women and posed this question: What's the harshest advice you've ever received but served you well in the end? Here's what they had to say:

"When I graduated from college, I really wanted to go to Thailand for my graduation gift. I wanted to go really badly! But my dad talked me into getting a laptop instead. He said I'd be able to make money right off the bat, instead of coming back with a sunburn, a hangover and fewer job prospects than when I left. He was right! I immediately went to work freelancing and ended up with a newspaper job. I still haven't been to Thailand, but if I go, I'm bringing my laptop … I've had four since then!"
– Jessica Ferracane

"Coming from an Asian family, there was plenty of fodder from my mom. Japanese mothers do not sugarcoat things – including 'You look like a homeless person in that outfit.' Without dwelling on the self-esteem issues this may have engendered, on the plus side, I'm less likely than most to make any huge fashion mistakes, since before leaving the house each day, I do a fast 'sex-trade worker,' 'muffin-top or flab' and 'grunge circa-1992' check before going out the door."
– Yuki Hayashi

"The harshest advice I ever received was actually an old adage. 'If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you it's yours to keep. If it doesn't, it was never yours to begin with.' This advice came after a particularly difficult break-up and it was really hard to hear and accept at the time. In the end, my love never came back to me but it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. And I needed to learn the difficult lesson that sometimes you need to let things happen (or not happen) in their own time."
– Candace McDonald

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