Timeless Advice I Got From My Parents
(That I now live by)
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As children, our parents are essentially the rule-makers of our young lives. They’re the first line of defense in what we can and cannot do and they have the power to give or take things away from us as they see fit based on their predefined rules.
They set boundaries, teach us things. and give us advice whether it be good or bad. And being at such a young age, we put our trust in them without hesitation and we do as they say (for the most part, at least). Then, as we get older, we become more and more rebellious towards the things that our parents told us to do or not to do.
We eventually resist their advice, despite the fact that it might be in our best interest, because we want to learn for ourselves.
But sometimes, in our self-taught life lessons, we reach an “I told you so” point in finding out the hard way and internally admit that we probably should have listened to that advice they gave us later down the road. And of course, there’s nothing more annoying than when you’re proven wrong — especially by your own parents.
As a soon-to-be new parent, I’m realizing that a lot of the advice that my parents gave me was actually pretty useful. And now, I essentially live by some of the random mantras that my Mom and Dad used to recite to me every time I was frustrated or in a difficult situation.
These are some of those mantras I now live by and ones that I will likely pass onto my own children as they grow older.
“Early bird gets the worm”
Growing up, tardiness was something that both of my parents avoided at all cost. They were always early to everything — and I mean everything. If an invitation said five o’,clock, we were aiming to be there by four fifteen. Even in telling my parents what time to pick me up from school or soccer practice, I always told them a time that was five to ten minutes later than the time they actually needed to be there.
And today, I’ve taken on a similar habit because who wants to rush? The early bird really does get the worm and it never hurts to be early, but there can always be consequences if you’re late.
