Life Lessons From Dad: Patience

Well, this lesson is one that I am being tested on at this very moment.  This is one that I am surprising myself on too. 

Lesson 3: Patience

One of the hardest things in life is to have patience, especially when things are beyond our control.  We all want the instant gratification, instant answers to our questions, and instant solutions to our problems.  Sometimes, patience is the key.  Having patience is key to keeping ourselves in check so that we don't do things that we regret or respond in ways that hurt ourselves or other people.  There will be many situations that you will face that will test your patience and a lot of those situations will be beyond your control.  The most important thing is to take a deep breath, keep a level head, don't jump to conclusions or make snap decisions without addressing all the facts, and give yourself time to think about how you can accomplish a task or overcome an obstacle or situation.  Take your time. Patience also pairs well with hope.  There rarely is a situation or obstacle that can't be overcome if you have hope in addition to a little patience.  Without patience, you might be driven to make assumptions, act irrationally, lose your temper, or jump into a situation without the full facts.  There will always be time, so be patient AND have Hope.  All things worth while in life take time and hard work.  Sometimes, when things are beyond our control at the current moment, if we just sit back, have a little patience AND Hope, and wait it out, an opportunity will present itself for the situation, task, or obstacle to be addressed.  Things do have a way of working themselves out but sometimes you have to be patient.
 
There have been many times where I have lost my patience and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble or has caused an issue to be magnified much more than it had to be. There have been times where I have been in too much of a hurry to accomplish a task or overcome an obstacle. Whatever situation may have arose, not having patience all led to the same results. Try to remain calm and patient and you will avoid a lot of the pain, hurt, and troubles that can arise.

Life Lessons From Dad: Love

Continuing with my little life lessons for you, I'm going to try my best to convey the message of Love.  Love is probably the greatest emotion, feeling, and act that we can experience.  Love can also be very complex and confusing.  I'll save the birds and bees kind of love for when you're older but, I thought I would try to summarize in general what the act or meaning of Love is the best that I can.

Lesson 2: Love

The most important thing that we can do in this world is Love.  Love comes in a variety of forms and intensities ranging from the Love of an object or activity to more personal forms of Love such as the Love of ones self, Love between a friend or family member, or intimate, romantic Love between two people.  Whatever form, Love can be summed up as kindness, respect, and compassion for all people and creatures. Unfortunately, as you grow older you may experience times where it will be hard to Love and easier to show anger or to be hurtful towards others.  You may also meet people who are not Loving towards you or other people.  Always remember that each and every one of us deserve to be Loved as we are all God's creatures.  Not a single one of us is above the other and doesn't deserved to be Loved.  Love your neighbors, Love your enemies, Love all creatures big and small for who and what they are.  If you can do this at all times, even when it is difficult, then you will be a messenger of Love. You can never know just how much an unkind word or action may negatively affect someone so always act with Love.  If you strive to Love when it is much easier to do everything but, you will help make this a more peaceful world and you will be spreading and sharing the joy of Love with others.  Love will help you remain positive.  Love can build and mend relationships.  Love can brighten someones day.  Love can influence and encourage.  Love can open up new doors, paths, and possibilities.  Always Love.

I know that there have been times where I have not succeeded in following this advice, again, I am not perfect, no one is.  There are many times when I let hurt and anger drive my responses and influence my decisions and that caused hurt for myself and others around me.  I encourage you to try your best to Love, even when it is hard to do so.  I'll close with a Bible passage which I feel does a much better job at summarizing what Love is and how we should all treat each other. 

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, 13

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails...  
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Life Lessons from Dad: Hope

I have been doing some thinking about what it means to be a father and part of that responsibility is to offer guidance. So, I thought it would be a great idea to start right now. You won't understand these lessons anytime soon, but someday when you are older you will and I'll be able to share what I have learned throughout my life and pass that down to you.  I'm not an expert and I've made a ton of mistakes but, I hope that maybe you'll take something away from what I have learned so that you won't have to make the same mistakes.  And if by chance you do make them, I'm here to tell you that it's ok and maybe this advice will help you sort through those mistakes someday.

I thought I would kick off these little lessons with Hope.  Hope has been at the forefront of my mind lately and is really helping me get through a very difficult situation and I think it's a good place to start.

Lesson 1: Hope

No matter what happens in life, no matter how hopeless a situation may be, whatever you do, don't lose Hope.  Hope is one of the most powerful emotions that you can have and it's one that only you can take away from yourself.  Situations in life will arise that will try to take it from you, but only you can make the conscious decision to hand it over.  So don't hand it over.  Keep it with you always and hold onto it tightly.  Without Hope your thoughts can lead to doubt and a belief that a situation or goal is impossible to overcome or achieve.  I want to tell you that nothing in this world is impossible to overcome and nothing in this world is hopeless as long as you truly believe it and hold onto Hope.  Hope is so powerful that as long as you hold onto it, you will be driven to achieve a positive outcome no matter how difficult a situation may be.  Hope will help remove the fear of the unknown and allows you to feel more positive about a situation.  As long as you have Hope you'll be able to see and think more clearly, which will help promote creativity within you, which in turn can help you accomplish and overcome the most difficult situations and tasks.  Having Hope will help you live a more positive and fulfilling life.  There have been many difficult times that I have faced and many times where I have given my Hope away and that only led to heartache and pain.  As much as I want to protect you from heartache and pain, I can't.  You'll go though your own difficult situations and make your own mistakes in life.  When those moments arrive, the only thing that I can do is offer my love and support and encourage you to never lose Hope.  Nothing is impossible and nothing is hopeless. Hold tightly onto Hope and never let it go. I love you little one.

Love,
Daddy
XOXOXO

50 Rules for Dads of Daughters

This is a great post to check out for all dads and future dads to be:
50 Rules for Dads of Daughters