Day 21 of my first 30 Day Writing Challenge: "What three life lessons do you would want your children to learn from you?"
I doubt what I have to share is new or even wise. I like to think that it's common sense. However, all I have to do is switch on the television and watch the news or read some of the crap on the internet to observe the lack of common sense that the common man has.
For a lack of a better term, these three lessons will not be called rules or lessons but guidance.
Guidance #1: Be true to yourself. Don't let anyone tell you who you should be. You should be who you feel you are. Straight or gay. College or a trade. Arts or science. Married, partnered or single. It's your lump of clay to mold, cut and form. Parents, teachers, friends and strangers can guide you or give you advice and suggestions, as I am doing here. It's up to you to follow or blaze your own path. No one but you can know what is best for you. Sometimes learning the hard way is the only way to learn. Experience will trump book knowledge every time no matter if the book is based on someone else's experience. As the cancer treatment and weight loss centers advertise, your results may vary.
Guidance #2: Do what you love. It may take several years. It may take several attempts. You may know from the time you are a small child. You may discover "your lot in life" when you are in your fifties. Be sure that whatever "it" is, it is what you love. Don't settle for someone else's dreams. You will only regret it. Be it a career or a hobby or hobby that becomes your career, you need to choose and decide what is right for you. And your choice should be something that you love. Something that will motivate you to rise up every morning and be glad to greet the day with a zest for living and not the dread of drudgery and distain. Only you can live in your own skin. If you want to be a dancer, be a dancer. If being a dancer turns out to not be your "cup of tea", start again. That's why pencils have erasers. What you think you want at 17 may not be what you want at 25, 35 or even 55. Life is short, but not that short. There's always time to set things to the right course.
Guidance #3: Don't discount all advice. As your reflect on the first two guidances, take in consideration when someone dispels advice or guidance, know that it came at a price, life experience. For the most part, life experience is a sound basis for guidance, but some people use prejudice and hate to rule their lives. Be wise to learn to tell the two apart. Some life experience may be slanted. Hear their stories and advice but gauge the story, advice and advisor by the individual's merits and behavior. I'd take as much solace in the advise from a Klansman as I do a clergyman. Both have agendas. Some may say opposite. I disagree. Any agenda that is not neutral that can't be interpreted equally by a mass populace is not a fair and neutral opinion. These agendas are based on loves and hates. Guidance and advice should always be based on neutral and beneficial ground.
As I noted earlier, your results may not be the same. All I know is that I wish someone sat me down when I was a young man and gave me some advice with options. I spent the majority of my life listening to people dictate how my life should be and what I should do. Options were rarely available. You should behave like this. You should do this and not that. Opinions that were formed by prejudice or because of religious and social dogma. If there were more communication between people and shared open-minded guidance, maybe there wouldn't be bloodshed in the schoolyards and the world a battleground of hopelessness.
Day 22: "10 Random Songs"
For a lack of a better term, these three lessons will not be called rules or lessons but guidance.
Guidance #1: Be true to yourself. Don't let anyone tell you who you should be. You should be who you feel you are. Straight or gay. College or a trade. Arts or science. Married, partnered or single. It's your lump of clay to mold, cut and form. Parents, teachers, friends and strangers can guide you or give you advice and suggestions, as I am doing here. It's up to you to follow or blaze your own path. No one but you can know what is best for you. Sometimes learning the hard way is the only way to learn. Experience will trump book knowledge every time no matter if the book is based on someone else's experience. As the cancer treatment and weight loss centers advertise, your results may vary.
Guidance #2: Do what you love. It may take several years. It may take several attempts. You may know from the time you are a small child. You may discover "your lot in life" when you are in your fifties. Be sure that whatever "it" is, it is what you love. Don't settle for someone else's dreams. You will only regret it. Be it a career or a hobby or hobby that becomes your career, you need to choose and decide what is right for you. And your choice should be something that you love. Something that will motivate you to rise up every morning and be glad to greet the day with a zest for living and not the dread of drudgery and distain. Only you can live in your own skin. If you want to be a dancer, be a dancer. If being a dancer turns out to not be your "cup of tea", start again. That's why pencils have erasers. What you think you want at 17 may not be what you want at 25, 35 or even 55. Life is short, but not that short. There's always time to set things to the right course.
Guidance #3: Don't discount all advice. As your reflect on the first two guidances, take in consideration when someone dispels advice or guidance, know that it came at a price, life experience. For the most part, life experience is a sound basis for guidance, but some people use prejudice and hate to rule their lives. Be wise to learn to tell the two apart. Some life experience may be slanted. Hear their stories and advice but gauge the story, advice and advisor by the individual's merits and behavior. I'd take as much solace in the advise from a Klansman as I do a clergyman. Both have agendas. Some may say opposite. I disagree. Any agenda that is not neutral that can't be interpreted equally by a mass populace is not a fair and neutral opinion. These agendas are based on loves and hates. Guidance and advice should always be based on neutral and beneficial ground.
As I noted earlier, your results may not be the same. All I know is that I wish someone sat me down when I was a young man and gave me some advice with options. I spent the majority of my life listening to people dictate how my life should be and what I should do. Options were rarely available. You should behave like this. You should do this and not that. Opinions that were formed by prejudice or because of religious and social dogma. If there were more communication between people and shared open-minded guidance, maybe there wouldn't be bloodshed in the schoolyards and the world a battleground of hopelessness.
Day 22: "10 Random Songs"
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