Be careful of the time you waste and the people you waste it on

I'm often amazed by people asking for assistance for a task or goal but when given an opinion or  thought, it's quickly shut down.  I try hard to aid people in bettering their lives, accomplishing their goals and finding the silver lining in dark clouds, but I'm often met with roadblocks and we both just wasted time and energy. What did we gain, what was lost?