Father's Day, Mother's Day or even otherwise, it's good to oft reflect on the wonderful things your parents have taught you that are gems which you're going to treasure for the rest of your life and pass them on to your children and posterity.
While from a mother you'd essentially imbibe the qualities of nurture,honesty, discipline, grace and compassion but from a father you'd learn some invaluable lessons that could possibly be chapters from his life which would help you deal with the real world.
At the end of it, what you'd learn from both your parents would give you a fine balance of life and go on to define the very essence of your being. In fact, I find that many things taught by a father are those I've learnt from a mother as well; so it's this convergence of the principles, morals and qualities that solidifies this very root of my existence.
While from a mother you'd essentially imbibe the qualities of nurture,honesty, discipline, grace and compassion but from a father you'd learn some invaluable lessons that could possibly be chapters from his life which would help you deal with the real world.
At the end of it, what you'd learn from both your parents would give you a fine balance of life and go on to define the very essence of your being. In fact, I find that many things taught by a father are those I've learnt from a mother as well; so it's this convergence of the principles, morals and qualities that solidifies this very root of my existence.
And here are 10 things that I've learn from my father (Psst...even though there are a 100 things I could write of!)
During my growing years there were some things that was taught to me by my dad during different phases of my life be it as a child, during school, college, on making career choices and the path to life and success. There were many lessons I learnt from my father's own experiences while there were those that I've observed during his interaction with me and others.
1) On my career and striving for an ideal: My dad often says that no path in life was ever going to be easy and I had to be prepared for that. He says people might race ahead of you, they would meet with success, they would earn better, be in better positions. But, he told me one important thing and that was never to compare myself with others because God had a plan for me too which would unfold before me. In the meanwhile, he told me that irrespective of the hurdles I faced, I must remain focused, persevere and never give up towards reaching my goals and ideals.
2) Simple living, High thinking - I have a tendency to buy clothes, shoes, accessories etc but at the end I just land up wearing just my jeans and Tees. While I have essentially partially imbibed the mantra of simple living from my dad but I've not been able to completely give up on buying the excess. My dad often tells me to shun materialism and seek knowledge and the higher truth because that would define the person I was going to be. He tells me while it is important to be presentable because of the demands of the world today but it is what you're going to speak from the knowledge you have gathered over the years that would make people to sit up and take notice of you.
3) Honesty is the best policy - Dad tells me that whether it's one rupee or one thousand, everything is accountable for in life because you have to answer your conscience at the end of the day. So, he says in your dealings and judgments be honest, fair and truthful and never to consciously hurt the interests of others.
4) Importance of Discipline - Dad says discipline in one's life will lead to perfect harmony between the body and mind and all this in turn will help you to strike a perfect balance in life. It'd help you to find time for yourself and those around you while others would complain they find none. I find this lesson very important and concur with his observations because when I meet friends they tell me that they find no time at all to pursue their hobbies or interests besides just doing their work!
5) Being Humble, Being Human - Dad often said that as humans we must always be down-to-earth and modest. He says that a man is not taller by his stature but by his good nature. He explained me this as a youngster by taking a simple example that suppose if I were in my office and let's say I made a mistake in my report and my junior colleague pointed out the errors in the report and corrected me about it. Now dad said, I had two options here, either I could humbly apologize for the mistake I committed and thank him for bringing it to my notice or tell him to mind his own business. At the end of it he would ask me, what would I choose. And when I'd say the former, he'd say that was the right choice, he'd say you were being humble but if you had chosen the latter you were being arrogant. And as I grew up, he'd give me many such examples of it.
6) Value of Dignity and Respect - He says you must be courteous and respectful to one and all and never treat anyone inferior to you. After all he says we are all created by the same God and are all His children, therefore we have no moral right to judge a person by his socio-economic standing. He says people's social status and economic quo may change overnight and he would always remember the time you might have been discourteous or disrespectful towards him. And I quite believe that this is true as I wish everyone around me with the same enthusiasm and respect.
7) Showing Compassion - This is what I've learnt from both my parents. They tell me that feeling compassionate towards less fortunate than you is a good thing but if you are in a position to help them, do not think twice. It is more important to show compassion to people by doing whatever best you can for that person at that given point in time whether in terms of food, clothes or even spending a few moments with them.
8) Forgive and Forget - There are many times I've been hurt and down when dad simply says leave the baggage behind and move on. He tells me not to mull over what went wrong and disturb my frame of thought. He says it'd only affect the gift of the present and the promise of the future. And I on my part heed to it as much as possible although forgetting is tad difficult!
9) "When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost" - Dad says that no matter what we must be of strong will and abide by our morals and principles that we have imbibed within ourselves over the years; the day we bend or compromise on the principles we stand for, we would not be able to stand up to ourselves and teach the same to your children.
10) Count your Blessings! Above all dad says express gratitude for whatever God has showered upon you. He says before you complain give a thought to those who are less fortunate than you. He shares this profound thought with me to elucidate his point - "I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." So that definitely sets me pondering even though at times challenges are overpowering!
So, here were 10 important life's lessons that my parents taught me! I am grateful to my father for making me see the real world side of it to understand and assimilate these gems. I guess, that to parents we'll always be a child and hence the need to be constantly nurtured and nourished by good thoughts! :)
Happy Father's Day!
Regards,
Sonaal
‘I am writing ‘10 life lessons I learnt from my father’ at Parentous.com
No comments:
Post a Comment