I've been wanting to write this post for a while and couldn't find a way to actually put it together. Recently, I came across this link. It's an article from The Huffington Post titled: "A Daddy's Letter to his Little Girl" by Kelly M. Flanagan. To sum up, this guy found (during a Google search) "How to keep him interested" as one of the top queries. He wrote a letter to his daughter, who one assumes really is still a little girl in which he categorically states that it's not her job to "keep him interested".
It's a beautifully written piece and although I started noticing some of my friends with little girls reposting this, it's kind of gone viral and every one from grown up Little Girls to guys with daughters has been sharing this across of multitude of social media platforms.
I confess: I teared up a little when I read it. I'm a self-confessed Daddy's Girl. I've always had a special relationship with my dad and although he's currently living quite literally on the other side of the world, his advice and love carry me through some of the hardest parts in my life.
So this is dedicated to my dad, who taught me not only is it not my job to "keep him interested", but also a few others life lessons that I'd like to share below.
1. "Don't get mad. Stay up and plot your revenge." This was meant to be something he said in jest but it really stuck with me. I'm currently addicted to the TV series Revenge which is based upon a revenge tragedy of woman trying to avenge her father's death. My life hasn't been quite that dramatic but it's made me ask myself what I would do in her situation. The second part to this is that "the best revenge is to live well". I'm not sure where I picked that one up from but I like it and it's something that has helped me on more than one occasion where I've felt "wronged".
2. "You've been through this before, you know what to do." This was the advice my dad told me when a close friend died in a car accident. He meant that I'd experienced loss when my grandfather passed away. At the time, I was distraught and pretty much freaking out. I was away at university and had no idea how to handle the trauma. This little gem has been a rock for me when I've gone through tough times. I like to think that it means: whatever has happened, you've handled worse and come out better for it. And it's true.
3. "Get up. No matter how crappy you feel or what's going on, get up, get showered and get dressed." I've dealt with depression. I've had those kind of days when brushing your teeth feels like effort. But my dad taught me that when you feel bad, wallowing and moping isn't going to help, it's going to make you feel worse. Even if all I did was get up, get showered, get dressed and go sit in front of the TV all day, I'd still feel 100 times better than if I hadn't.
4. "Eat the frog first." This is a weird one, especially for someone with ranidaphobia (fear of frogs). But it basically means do the one thing you really don't want to first and get it over and done with. This has applied to so many aspects of my life, from my job to my day-to-day life. It's even how I eat my meals (veggies first, save the best for last).
5. "It's not about money. It's about your ability to earn money; to generate an income." I have two sisters. We're a family of females. My dad has always pushed me to be able to stand on my own two feet and be financially independent. I think one of his biggest worries is that we get married and let a guy take care of things and something goes wrong where we left to fend for ourselves. This is probably the one lesson that's been the hardest for me to learn and I still have to rely on my parents sometimes to help me out of tight spots. But at the end of the day, I can make money. Not a lot (I'm in media...you don't study journalism for the cash), but enough to get me by. I'll always have skills I can use to earn a living.
Those are the things my dad taught me. One day, I hope to teach my daughter, or son, these lessons as well as some others I've picked up along the way. But that's a post for another day.
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