5 Delightful Truths I Will Teach My Kids
I’m only 26 years old, but the thought of being a father has always been on my mind. I have amazing parents who taught me so many lessons that made me the man I am today. And it makes me wonder, what lessons would I pass on to my kids?
After a lot of thought, this is what I came up with.
Don’t be afraid to actually try and make your dreams happen
What is that little idea in the back of your head you keep putting off— that opportunity you keep letting pass you by? Why haven’t you tried it yet?
All of us have some idea, big or small, of what we want out of our future. Some of us have big dreams, like becoming an astronaut, being elected president, or being a Hollywood actor. Others have ideas we keep locked away because we’re scared to actually try them.
Quit saying “One Day.”
Too often, we have an idea and we just sit on it. We think and ponder, but we never act on it. Then it eventually slips away and we say, “Eh, that’s a crazy idea anyways,” or “Maybe one day.”
Quit talking yourself out of trying. One day means never. Turn your dreams into plans and act on them. My dad always told me, “Look before you leap, but do leap!”
Give yourself permission to fail
I’d rather fail than never try. I’m impulsive and as soon as I get an idea, I charge into it full force. I have piles of failed projects, but those are my favorites because they taught me the most. The greatest champions also failed the most.
Legends are more than their achievements — they are the result of their sacrifices and failures.
It’s all about iteration. Hell, I’m an artist; my life runs on iteration. Trying new things, then trying again and again in different ways until I get it right.
It’s okay to fail. You learn more when you fail. No one remembers you for your failures. You don’t think of Jordan as a failed baseball player, right?
The most common life regrets are the things we didn’t try.
Travel
Travel the world as soon as possible, as often as possible. Make little trips and big trips. Go on adventures and go alone if you can. Buy experiences, not material things.
I took 10 days off to backpack through Italy and it was the best thing I ever did. Now I’m obsessed with traveling. It’s not as expensive as you might think.
Use apps like skyscanner to find flights and stay in hostels or use Airbnb. It’s not as scary as you think. The people who stay in hostels are usually there for the same reasons you are. They’re just there to travel and meet new people, so you end up making new friends.
Never settle on happiness
Be a little selfish. It’s okay to sacrifice and give for those you love. But you should never settle for scraps just because you think it’s all you deserve.
If you are not happy, admit it. Say it. When I was in an unhappy place in my life, I pushed it away. I said “Maybe things will change. This is just the way the world is.” I had settled for a life that I wasn’t happy with, just because it was the one that was given to me.
Throwing away the cards you’ve been dealt feels like madness, but I can promise you this: when you let your desire to be happy guide your decisions, you inevitably find it.
Fill your cup so that you can fill others.
When I was young, I was overflowing with wonder and joy. I wanted to help everyone around me, so I let them walk all over me. I just wanted to be loved and make others happy.
But when I got older, I realized I was letting the opinions of others dictate my decisions. I wasn’t making decisions for my own happiness. Thus, I had little of it to share with others. I became cynical and spiteful.
How are you supposed to be this radiant bundle of joy when you aren’t actively consuming it? Yes, fill the cups of others, but fill yours too.
True love does exist
There are a lot of fairy tales we learn when we’re young. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Olive Garden’s unlimited bread sticks, and our movies and books are filled with love stories.
Love stories are filled with ridiculous situations and characters, but they give us something to hope for. When we’re older we realize that the world doesn’t work that way. However, don’t lose faith. True love is one fairy tale you should believe in.
Don’t settle just because you think soul mates don’t exist. Keep searching until you find someone you can’t live without, someone who can’t live without you.
Find someone you don’t deserve.
Find someone who might actually love you more.
Find someone who makes you feel free.
Check out my story on True Love for more.
Be better than me
We have a responsibility to ensure that the next generation is better than our own. This is exactly what I’m going to tell my children. It’s a challenge, not just to them, but to me.
We should challenge ourselves to pass down not only our successes, but our failures. Our failures are what made us who we are. Our failures corrected our steps and altered our paths. There is no better teacher than failure.
“We are what they grow beyond.” — Yoda
Challenging them to be better than us makes it our responsibility to set the bar high and enable them to succeed.
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