Father’s Advice Is One Father’s Instructions For Life, Written Down For The Benefit Of His Son, Passed Down To Me By A Friend, And Now Shared With You To Share With Others
“Father!
To God himself we cannot give a holier name.”
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Father’s Advice is the story of a humble man whose influence came into my life and thankfully never fully left it.
Father’s Advice are about the two sheets of paper this man shared with me before moving away, the words of which were written for him by HIS father; fatherly words of wisdom to live by.
This is how I first received them so many years ago. I have since seen these words duplicated on the internet in so many places, which does not surprise me as they are worth repeating.
But my story is about a man who shared them with me and changed the way I looked at being a father forever.
This man was a heavy, jolly, humble and un-refined salt-of-the-earth auto mechanic with perpetual grease under his fingernails and perpetual goodwill in his heart.
Father’s Advice is what this man demonstrated by his willingness to help anyone at any time to get out of any difficulty they had found themselves in, especially if it had to do with cars or had happened in the dead middle of the night.
This man lived in a small apartment but lived as if he were the benevolent master of the universe.
He was a man so unassuming that it would be easy to underestimate his kindness and his contributions to the rest of us – which I am sure most of us did on a regular basis.
Because he had probably never seen the inside of an opera house and we had, we may have even looked down on him at times – a shameful mistake I strive never to repeat with any other living soul.
He was a large and powerful man who because of his Father’s Advice was a teddy bear at heart, and in whose presence you feared nobody and nothing.
When he dropped everything to help you at the most inconvenient time possible, he never asked for nor would ever accept a monetary recompense, but only ever asked that you now help someone else in need as he had just helped you.
Father’s Advice is an example so powerful that I have kept these two pages for close to two decades and never lost them, and yet for the life of me I CANNOT remember his name.
So get ready for a real treat as I share with you what was written on those two pages he gave to me shortly before he and his wife moved away, never to be seen by me again, and which I used as the motivation for this page which I have called ‘Father’s Advice’.
Here’s Lance’s list, courtesy of: http://www.preteen-thru-teenage-parenting-action-guide.com/fathers-advice.html
A Father’s Instructions For Life
1. Compliment three people each day
2. Watch a sunrise at least once a year
3. Over-tip breakfast waitresses
4. Look people in the eyes
5. Say “Thank You” a lot
6. Say “Please” a lot
7. Live beneath your means
8. Buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front yards
9. Treat everyone you meet as you want to be treated
10. Donate two pints of blood every year
11. Make new friends but cherish the old ones
12. Keep secrets
13. Don’t waste time learning the tricks of the trade. Instead learn the trade
14. Admit your mistakes
15. Be brave. Even if you’re not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference
16. Choose a charity in your community and support it generously with your time and money
17. Read the United States’ Bill of Rights
18. Use credit cards only for convenience, never for credit
19. Give yourself a year and read the Bible cover to cover
20. Give yourself a year and read any great book you have always wanted to read cover to cover
21. Learn to listen
22. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly
23. Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all he or she has
24. Pray not for things but for wisdom and courage
25. Never take action when you are angry
26. Have good posture
27. Enter a room with purpose and confidence
28. Don’t discuss business in elevators
29. Never pay for work before it’s completed
30. Be willing to lose a battle in order to win the war
31. Don’t gossip
32. Beware of the person who has nothing to lose
33. When facing a difficult task act as though it is impossible to fail
34. If you’re going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce
35. Don’t spread yourself too thin
36. Never underestimate the power of forgiveness
37. Instead of using the word ‘Problem’, try substituting the word ‘Opportunity’
38. Never walk out on a quarrel with your mate
39. Regarding furniture and clothes, if you think you will be using them five years or longer, buy the best you can afford
40. Be bold and courageous
41. When you look back on your life you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did
42. Forget committees. New, noble, world-changing ideas always come from one person working alone
43. Street musicians are a treasure. Stop for a moment and listen, then leave a small donation
44. When faced with a serious health problem, get at least three medical opinions
45. Wage war against littering
46. After encountering inferior service, food or products, bring it to the attention of the person in charge. Good managers will appreciate knowing
47. Learn to say ‘No’ politely and quickly
48. Don’t expect life to be fair
49. Park your car at the end of a row or under a light at the far end of a parking lot
50. Never get into your car without looking into it first
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