A Different Kind of Post

I have been mentally adding up the things I would like to teach Mason as he grows up. I was cataloging them all in my memory, storing them away until I got to a computer where I would unload them in to a single document. I had come across many ideas and many action items. Ideas that were profound and poignant. Even the most common of activities would spark an idea that I would want to teach Mason.

Sadly, if any of you know how poorly my mind works when used as a notepad, you will know that it was lost moments after “cataloging” it. So time goes on, and ideas are born and lost in the Bermuda Triangle that is my mind. It is likely that these lost ideas were so thoroughly misplaced, it was like they never happened at all, causing them to go full circle, becoming reborn as original thoughts later. It was like adding a book randomly to a library but never writing down where you put it.

The solution was to give the ideas to someone else and have that person catalog them. Well this would be great if I hadn't already forgotten all of my great epiphanies by that time. So, I had to enlist my friends help for more than cataloging. He also had a list that he had been adding to over the years. It was nothing huge, but it was a starting point. So I asked if I could collaborate with him on his list to make it more robust and to one day make it my own. While we were able to agree on many items outright, people’s personalities and the way they perceive their reality diverges at some point. So the list split into two lists. Each of us adding things we held important to us, comparing it to the other list and talking about the changes for hours.

I am writing this post because it became obvious that we had a greater resource than just the two of us. We had you, the reader of this blog. I submit to you the list and I make a request. If you think we are missing something, make a comment. If you think we need to reword something, make a comment. If you think we are way off base, make a comment. If you agree completely with something, make a comment. There are two lists so I will be providing another blog address in this post. The second list is here or at least it will be shortly. It resides on my friend Cody's blog.


Without further ado:

Things I would like to teach my kids in no particular order:

Leave things better than when you've found it. Even the smallest improvement is enough.

Balance - Everything in moderation.

Who you are being will speak louder than anything you could ever say.

Keep your word, especially to yourself.

Suffering is optional. You are in charge of your own state of mind.

Reality is merely perception, and you're responsible for what meaning you give your perceptions.

Your words have power. People perceive what you are saying now, from what you've said in the past.

If something seems impossible, you just haven't discovered the first and often the simplest step.

Apologize like an adult. Recount your mistake aloud, address the offended’s feelings and give your word that this mistake will never happen again.

You play a part in everything you experience. Good or bad, it is your responsibility for that experience.

Choose your habits wisely or they will dominate your actions.

Build a habit of evaluating new information, confirm it against things you already accept as fact. Do not be afraid to question what you hold to be truth.

Take care the lives that are entrusted to you. Recklessness at the expense of another’s safety is unacceptable.

Nobody's perfect - What's important is to recognize our shortcomings. Do not hide them from yourself out of shame or embarrassment. Be able to talk about them to at least one person close to you.

Let others make their choices and if that choice is wrong, be at peace and let it stay wrong.

Believe in people to be self-sufficient. Help only when it is requested or the situation demands it.