My grandma is 80 years old and full of wisdom. She doesn't give life lessons, but the way she speaks and acts is enough to teach us how to live life to the fullest with few regrets and how to love. Over the past 19 years, I have learned five important lessons from her.
1. Kindness is the key
You always hear "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," and she has proven these true to me many times before. I don't believe the woman has a mean bone in her body. She is nice to everyone until you give her a reason to speak up and say something. She is sweet as can be until you hurt or mess with one of her daughters or friends or grandchildren or family in general. She doesn't listen if someone says awful things about you and treats you with a clean slate the first time you meet her. Life goes so much better when you are just a kind person.
2. Love with all your heart
I sit down and listen to her stories, and they are all filled with love, even the bad. I listen to stories of her and my late grandfather, and I believe it's like a Nicholas Sparks book. I hear stories of her raising my mom and my aunts, and everything she did was out of love. She does everything out of love and loves all of us with her whole heart. She would do anything for my cousins and I, my mom and my aunts, my dad and my uncles, any of her neighbors. It's because she loves us all with her whole heart. There is so much love, she has no room for hate in her life. What an amazing way to live.
3. Family is everything
It's us before her. We get chance after chance, love no matter what and a hug and a smile every time we see her. Family is the one certain thing in this world, so why not keep them as close as possible? Why not cherish them and love them unconditionally? Even if they drive you completely insane, family is family. You only get one, so love them with all you have.
4. Forgiveness
We all get hurt in this world, sometimes worse than others but we must forgive those who hurt us. That doesn't necessarily mean bringing them back into your life but it means letting go of the hate and the grudges against them. We need to forgive those who hurt us and remove the hate from our lives to remain happy and loving. A heart without hate and grudges is the best way to live.
5. Do not judge
"Different people, different strokes," is what she always says. Everyone lives life a different way we may not live the same way but that doesn't mean that person is any less. Religion, race, sexuality doesn't matter. We are not better than anyone else, and we shouldn't judge. Meet all people with a clean slate, free of what was said about them before. We need to be more accpeting and open to everyone.
