Monday, July 25, 2016

Wisdom cultivated by age





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.




















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