Remember when you were a kid? Yeah-the good ole days right? A time when we were young and carefree and chose to play outside until the sun went down. You can probably remember your mother yelling for you to come home at the end of the day. Life was so precious and full of adventure. It was especially full of lessons. I can still hear the sound of my father's voice teaching me different things that, at the time, I thought were silly. But just yesterday it dawned on me that those little nuggets of information that my parents taught me I still do! Maybe you can remember your parents telling you the same things!
1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Yeah, who just loved hearing this after coming home from a long day at school? The first thing I wanted to do was turn on the t.v. to watch 7th Heaven, not do more work. But now I can see that doing my homework first taught me to prioritize. And now all these years later every time I go to do something fun, I first stop and remember to do my homework. And homework isn't just math problems and sentence structure, it's more like paying bills and more bills.
2. EAT YOUR VEGETABLES. Now this actually never bothered me, but I know it bothered a lot of my friends! I wasn't too picky so I ate just about any vegetable I tasted. I remember my dad always saying, "You have to have at least one green vegetable with your dinner." Now I hear myself say that...every night...to my kids. Oh how the tables have turned! I never really understood why we had to have at least one green veggie at dinner, but I didn't care cause I liked it. Now I know that it is important to eat healthy...if I could just get my kids to understand that...
3. DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WANT THEM TO DO UNTO YOU. Oh boy! This was one of my favorites-not! I have always been a sweet person so growing up this was easy for me to do, but now it is a totally different story. I think people get a little more stupid as they age. I mean really?! The things people will do to you are just beyond my reasoning. Now when someone does something to me I want to smack them, but then I hear the voice of my parents and um, God, telling me not to retaliate. Thank God. This always calms me down and then I realize that if I were were to smack someone because of their stupidity and meanness towards me, they would probably smack me back...and that would hurt. Which leads me to...
4. DON'T DISH IT OUT IF YOU CAN'T TAKE IT. This is why I don't go around smacking people.
5. CLEAN YOUR ROOM. My parents took it one step further, "If you see something that needs to be cleaned, clean it- whether it is your mess or not." I hated this one! I remember my dad waking up me and my three siblings in the middle of the night to clean. This would occur anytime we went to bed without cleaning up our mess. His voice would sound like thunder and I would jump out the bed as if a bolt of lightning hit me- hair sticking straight up and all. I would be so angry, but I didn't dare show it on my face. I was pretty obedient no matter how stupid I thought the rules were. Even the rule that if we walked past a piece of trash on the floor we needed to pick it up. It didn't matter whose mess it was. But now that I am grown and on my own I am forever thankful for my dad for making us clean. After having six roommates I realize that people can be very dirty! And now that I have my own kids I make it a point to teach them to clean. No excuses. Afterall cleanliness is next to Godliness...right?
6. USE YOUR MANNERS. This is a HUGE one. Ya see, in my family, manners are expected. Yes ma'am. No ma'am. Yes sir. No sir. Thank you. Please. Excuse me. These were things you have probably heard me say on a regular basis. It is ingrained in the core of my soul. And I can honestly say that I have met less than a handful of people who have manners like my family does. Maybe its just a Thomas thing? I never had a problem with using my manners and I still don't. It has given me favor in many areas of my life. I know now that people respect people who have manners. It opens doors for you and that is the plain truth. Manners are a powerful thing.
7. WORK. I was 14 when I got my first job and I've had one ever since. My parents were hard workers and I have become nothing less. My parents would always say if you don't work, you don't eat. Boy was that ever true! They didn't force me to get a job at 14 but they did encourage me and drove me to and from work everyday. Now I can appreciate the hard work ethic they instilled in my life because there are plenty of adults who can't seem to hold down a job or even get on their feet. For me that is not the case and I am eternally grateful.
8. DREAM BIG. When I was a little girl my parents would pile all four of us kids in the back seat of our car and we would spend hours driving around looking at houses that we couldn't afford. Of course, my siblings and I didn't know that. We just loved going to look at all the houses and roaming around in them deciding which room would be ours. At the time we lived in the inner city and though we had a decent house, it wasn't anything near as beautiful as what our parents would take us to look at. Every time we would go on these house hunting adventures our parents would tell us to dream big and have a great vision. They drilled that into our spirits. Not only did they talk about it, but as the years went on we started to live it out. We went from big to bigger in every area of our life. Little did I know that what my parents taught me and showed me would be vital to my life. And now as an adult, there are many things that I face that seem impossible. Circumstances and finances try to cloud my vision, but then I remember the faith and vision that was planted in me so long ago and it keeps me from giving up or losing faith. Dreaming big isn't an option for me, it's a lifestyle.
Looking back I realize how these simple rules have shaped my world and my outlook on life. I may not have understood them back then but they have paved the way for my true success. If you had good parents be thankful for them. All those years and all of those crazy little rules were only there to help you along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment