As I sit back and take stock of what advice I
consistently tell my kids, believe to be true, and
are mantras to living the best life possible, I
thought I would share them. I have discovered
them to be true.
1) You are the company you keep
I'm fortunate to
have a wonderful
group of talented
people surrounding me.
They push me harder to strive to be better.
I continue to work at being the best they believe
in me to be.
2) Make others proud of you
I often think
that my father
is looking down
from heaven and
cheering me on.
My father could offer advice, he could hold
me accountable, but he never failed to show
his unwavering support of me. He would not
tell me what I wanted to hear when life was a
struggle, he would listen. Then he would say:
"what's the pay off?"
3) Life IS about choices
The choices we make are not always the best,
and we can end up scarred or with a few bruises
but we have to believe that our reasoning for
doing what we did, was because we thought it
the best option at the time.
4) What did we learn?
By sticking to our path, doing what we think is
right for us at the time we do it, we make mis-
takes. But from those mistakes do we reflect
upon the life lesson? Do we avoid it the next
around? Does our vibe send a warning signal?
5) Failure happens
How we react to failure becomes our legacy.
Did we extrapolate from it the lessons that we
needed to learn? Would we do it again exactly
the same or would we do it differently.
6) Listen to others
Did we have the chance to get advice from
others wiser and choose to ignore it? Why even
bother to ask for an opinion if we're just going to
do what we want anyhow?
7) Bees and honey
You attract more bees with honey than vinegar:
should resonate among my children's minds
often. I have said it so many times, they can
finish it before I finish with "bees". People will
react more favorably when you frame it with
niceness, politeness and manners.
8) Show gratitude
Never fail to find an opportunity to thank some-
one. If you show appreciation, you will be
rewarded as often as you express gratitude.
9) You are the company you keep
Be wary of those that want to tarnish your talents
or destroy your confidence or put you in harms
way. Misery may love company but you don't.
9) Please your soul
Play some music, paint or draw or write or cook
a fabulous creation. For it is something you
enjoy. You aren't doing it to please others. Do
whatever sings to your heart and heals your
inner self.
10) Trust your instincts
They could be telling you something that you did
not necessarily see but felt was wrong.
11) Optimistic and positive
It isn't always possible to stay upbeat, positive
and optimistic. Life has a way of pushing you
when you step outside the boundaries. It is
just that sometimes you need a reality check.
Get over it. Take a hot bath. Reflect more on
what you should be thankful for.
12) Recovery
How you recover from failure or disappoint-
ment or from being off track will determine how
far you can reach. Did you fall to the bottom, or
did you catch yourself before you did a complete
tumble? Were their others there to help catch
you? Did you stop yourself or ask for help when
you needed to avoid self-destruction?
13) Goals and dreams
Goals are dreams with deadlines. Do you have
a vision on where you would like to end up that
is not fueled by greed, envy or power? Your
success will likely be determined by the value
it represents.
14) Believe in yourself
Often it is only oneself who can decide if we are
on the right path.
15) Discover your purpose
Allow that purpose to drive your passion, path,
and continual learning. It is then you will likely
discover what it is that you love to do.
I hope my kids read this and remember the
times we had discussions around any of the
wisdom shared and reflect upon the situation
that caused it. They know they have my
permission to hold me accountable. The worst
part of it is that I didn't always listen to myself.
The best part is when they toss my words back
at me.
