I’m a good listener. Indeed, my whole career has consisted of jobs where I listen to others and ask questions so they can eventually become aware of the solution (which resides within themselves about 95% of the time). Yet, I’m discovering how fun and satisfying it can be to just blurt out advice. No questions. No reflective comments. No self-editing so I don’t offend. Just my intuitive take on things that the other person is free to embrace or reject.

I offered straight-out advice to my husband Mike yesterday morning. I was in a rush to get out the door and he was talking about an issue at work he was dealing with. Normally, our pattern is for me to be a sounding board and, after 15 minutes, he figures things out. Yesterday, I had no time for back-and-forth. He said the problem. I blurted out my advice. In my car a few minutes later, I realized – damn, that felt good to just say what I thought!

I heard on the radio that, as women get older and our estrogen levels drop, the testosterone levels that had been “masked” by the estrogen seem more pronounced. (Any health professional reading this, forgive me if I’ve butchered this explanation and feel free to correct it.) In non-medical speak, there’s a physiological reason that older women put up with less B.S.

There’s an advice columnist in the Washington Post whom I love: Carolyn Hax. To me, she strikes the perfect balance of empathy and good, candid advice. I’d LOVE to have a wise women coffee chat with Carolyn.