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Monday, March 18, 2013

Advice to my daugthers

A few thoughts on getting older, giving you the gifts I was never given.

As you get older...

...you begin to realize that you are even an adult when it comes to your own parents.

...you begin to see that everyone has their own dysfunction to deal with.  It isn't just you.

...you see that no "thing" can ever make you happy.

...you appreciate what the word "legacy" really means.

...you begin to surrender yourself to what will happen, knowing both that you will deal with whatever happens anyway and that calories spent worrying were calories spent for nothing.

...you begin to understand that what you say and how you say it matters.

...you see the beauty in simpler things.

...you see the shallowness that accompanies being young.

...you realize that how you show up to a situation matters just as much as what you do...in fact, it pretty much  determines what you do.

...you realize that pride probably does about as much harm as it does good.

...you see that if you spend too much time looking in life's rear-view mirror you will almost certainly crash into on-coming traffic.

...you realize that it's important to be prepared.

...you understand that you are respectful to others not as a statement about them, but rather as a statement about you.

...you being to see that of all the emotions, arrogance is probably the most dangerous.

...you realize that we allow annoying small things to bother us all the time, yet we don't always notice the small beautiful things that can inspire us.

...you truly understand that what you surround yourself with is what you become.  Put another way, if you lay in sewer, don't be shocked if you smell.  This applies in equal parts to people, places and things.

...you see that your efforts matter, if only to you.

...you realize that while pleasing others is nice, you have to live with yourself 24|7|365.


In the end you are only given one life, so live it well, understanding that ultimately it is based on decisions you make.

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