For my Kids...and anyone else!

An Open Letter to my Kids.

Dear Kids,

As I take the time to look back on life I do so not with regret, but with reverence.  I look at the ups and downs, the great times and the times of struggle and I see a uniformity to life.  In that I mean that while we all experience these same patterns from time to time, we are not defined by them, but on how we learn from them and continue.

I have to say that many of the most important lessons that I have been taught were after you were grown.  Which is to say that in your formative years when the information would have been  useful to you I didn’t have it available.

I look at the struggles that you have been through (are going through) and think “if only I had said this…or said that!”

So I decided that instead of thinking that I was too late, I would lay out some important things that you may already know…

LOVE is the most important gift.  The more you do it the more you receive it and the better off you are for it.  You can have everything else the world has to offer, but without love it means nothing.

(When I say love, there is no need to add words like: Compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and understanding…it is all part of love.)

MONEY is not evil.  Money is a tool!  And you cannot build things without tools.  If you use money properly than there will be enough for you and for helping others.

TIME is something you need to mete out carefully.  You need time for work, time for others (not just children, but those who need help), but most importantly you need time for yourself!  Now this may sound contrary to what you have been taught or believe, but TIME for yourself needs to be first and foremost.  Because if you are not properly taken care of then you will be no use to others.  It’s okay to be a little selfish.  You will know when you are ready to help the rest of the world.

CONSISTENCY!  If your thoughts and your actions and your words are not saying the same thing, then you will not be able to move forward with your life.  It is like a recipe.  Not only are the ingredients important, but how you mix them, what temperature you cook them at and how long you cook them all have to be consistent with the recipe.

If you believe you are broken…if you believe you are less than…if you believe you can’t…then you are…and you wont.

So choose to believe that you are perfect!  You are More Than!  And you Can…and you will!

Understand that sometimes when people tell you NO…it may be about them and not about you.  So be aware, understand your surroundings, and the energy that people are putting off.  And BE who it is that you have always wanted to be!

Love, DAD!