Life Lessons for my Children
Right behind our apartment is a pond that leads into the river. In the spring we see swans and ducks. We see them hiding and sitting on eggs. Then, I love to watch them with their babies. I love watching the swans swimming with a line behind them. Even more I love watching the line of ducks with the mama duck and papa duck. One in front and one behind with a row of ducklings in between. Â Occasionally, I see them nudged back in place. I also have to nudge back in place my children to the life lessons that are important.
Be Kind
Kindness is vastly underrated. Show kindness to everyone you meet, whether they are the homeless person on the street or the richest person you know. Kindness is not determined by their stature in life but by your response. Even grouchy people need kindness, sometimes more than we know. Â I tell my children 2 of the most important traits when looking at other people for friends and later mates in life are kindness and laughter. Kindness lasts long after looks are gone and you can get through almost anything with a sense of humor.
Laugh
Just like kindness, laughter is a lifelong trait. Â Learn to laugh at yourself too. If it’s something that you know you will be laughing about in a while, laugh now. Find something to laugh about every day. Laughter is good medicine. Â It helps even in bad situations.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
There will always be someone who has it better than you. A bigger house, better job, a nicer car, they’re skinnier, curvier, more muscular, have more money. They will have more things, better health, taller, shorter. Â The opposite is also true. You will have more than someone else. Don’t compare. I know it’s hard. Â It will only make you feel bad. Don;t do it.
You’ll Have Your Heart Broken
As much as I might wish otherwise, you’ll have your heart broken. That does’t mean to wrap it up tight and protect it, as much as it seems easier. Love freely given is as much a gift to you as to the receiver. If you don’t keep your heart open you will miss something wonderful. Friends and family will hurt you without meaning to. Some will hurt you deliberately. You’ll fall in love, but they won’t. Disaster will strike and you’ll feel as if you can’t bear up under the loss. Â You can and you will. You have a lot of love to give and receive.
Work Hard
Work hard and enjoy it. Unfortunately, in this day and age it will set you apart. But all through life you will need to work, home or a job it has to be done. Isn’t it better to do it right than to do it over. Also enjoy it. You have to do it anyway, you might as well enjoy it.
Life isn’t Fair
If i had a quarter for every time I’ve heard “that’s not fair!” said in a very whiny voice, I’d be rich. But life isn’t fair. A lot of time it’s anything but fair. It can seem like someone else always has it easier, better, they have to do less and get more. Or have less chores. Smile.
You are Unique
There is only one you. Just like a snowflake is unique or the pedals in a flower, so are you . No one else is exactly like you. Â While you may look similar to someone from the outside your insides are different. The way you think, the things you feel, the things you love. You are special and there is only one you.
Be Loyal
Have you ever seen the Cheaper by the Dozen movie where the brothers and sisters are constantly picking on each other. But just let someone else pick on them and they all walk together to talk to the one person that was picking on their younger brother or sister. that seems very familiar in our house I remember instant when that very thing happened. I have always told my children that their brothers and sisters will be their best friends for life. I’ve tried to instill that in each other so that they know that they are someone that they can always count on. I know that their father and I will not always be there and they will need someone else. They will need someone that is loyal to them.  I know they will probably also have family but a brother or sister is someone who is known them their whole life. You need to be loyal to the people in your life. Family you make  and family you are born into.
Always Do Your Best
Whether anyone else around you is or not. Only you know if you’ve tried your hardest and done your best. And only you will have to live with your conscience and the consequences of those acts.
Beauty Starts From Within
Audrey Hepburn Quotes on Beauty. “The beauty in a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart; the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.”
Have Faith
The only thing that is held me together while going through trials is knowing that I have faith in Jesus. Knowing that He is there to catch me when I fall and to listen when I fail. Â Â I know that I have eternal life Him. Â Knowing He is there for me is equivalent to having a safety net while falling from a tightrope. Â I can’t imagine what someone without faith would do. We would have no one to save us, nothing to believe in, Â no one who helps us through everything in life. My life is been saved miraculously when doctors gave no hope. Â I have felt His presence in my life and I want that for all my children.
Looking Ahead
As I try teaching life lessons for my children that I want them to take through in life  I often wonder if I have succeeded. I look at my grown children and see certain areas for each one of them have flourished and sometimes areas they still need to grow. But I see things in these areas that I need to grow into. In some areas they have far surpassed me.  We teach our children and as they grow they turn around and teach us too.  What other life lessons do you deem important?  What would you add?  Do you see areas that you need to grow too?  I know I do.
Christina Renee
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