In honor of Mother’s Day, I decided to dedicate this article to My Momaw who adopted me at the age of ten months. She raised me with grace and diligence and taught me so many lessons along the way. She is a brilliant lady so I want to share with you all some of the things that she has taught me in my life. In no particular order, here are some of the tips she has given me…
- Always remain a lady (or gentlemen) and carry yourself with grace. Life will put you in so many situations where you have to decide how to act so be sure to think before you act and speak out loud. If you want people to treat you like a lady or gentlemen, you must first act like and be one.
- Respect others and equally important, yourself. If you do not respect yourself first, who else will? Everyone deserves respect no matter how they treat you, and I know that may sound a bit off at first but if you think about it, your contributions of respect to society could be the start of something good. Most people who do not respect others have never been respected themselves so instead of backfiring when they disrespect you, show them respect and teach them just that.
- Do not expect handouts. Things in life are not just handed out like candy on Halloween. No one is going to continuously give and give to you without getting something in return. When you do receive handouts, accept them with humility and grace, otherwise go get what you want instead of waiting for someone to give it to you.
- Work for what you want. As mentioned above, things in life are not free nor do they magically appear in your life. If you want something, you need to work for it. Go get what you want! The things that you have should be meaningful to you because you earned them yourself. There is no better feeling than being able to say I worked for everything I have.
- Never depend on anyone (especially a man). If you live independently you will never be let down by someone else because you can do it all on your own. In the society we live in people are not always reliable so depend on yourself when it comes to doing things and getting things done, as well as necessary life needs.
- Never let anyone walk over top of you. You are an important asset to this world we live in and do not let anyone ever tell you differently. You are not a doormat, you are vital to life and you should feel like you are. When you let someone trump you, you are giving him or her permission to do it again. Set boundaries and stand your ground when it comes to your life. We all want to be happy in this chaotic world so do what you enjoy and do not let anyone interfere with it.
- Honesty is always best. Sometimes the truth hurts but when you are always honest people tend to trust you more and appreciate your character. Always tell the truth even though this can be challenging because of fear, it really is the right thing to do. When you hold back from telling someone something, most of the time them not knowing the truth hurt you more than it would them if they knew. Honesty has always been the best policy in my house. When you lie to someone, it insults their worth because it hints to them that they were not worthy of the truth and that hurts more than the truth.
- Never regret anything you have done, unless it was out of spite. We all do things that we wish we could take back but it is life and that is not possible. Instead of being miserable and wallowing in self-pity over your mistakes and regrets, use them as lessons and learn from them. It is only a mistake if you do it more than once. Our lives are too short to live in a constant worry. Embrace your flaws.
I wish I could share everything with you that she has taught me but unfortunately I cannot. I just hope that you had someone as amazing as I did growing up who taught you everything you know. Moms do not always get their title by blood; I know mine did not. My two favorite things that My Momaw told me that I did not include above is to say “I love you” too much and spare the phrase “I am sorry” for when you really mean it because otherwise it has lost it’s value. I have been beyond blessed with this woman in my life and I hope that you can learn a thing or two from her as well.
