Happiness is the best beauty product and other lessons learned

While some think of this point in the calendar as early spring, I’ve come to know it as birthday season since all three of my sons’ birthdays fall between early February and late April. At the moment, it’s a two down, one to go situation, with my middle son’s birthday on the last day of the month.

His birthday has already been acknowledged, however, with my gift to him of 6 dining room chairs (already delivered and assembled) which he desperately needed, along with some euros for his weekend adventure in Europe.

Now that my obligatory shopping is over, I’ve got another gift of sorts for my offspring in the form of some advice and my current favorite life tips. While my sons are at an age when it is typical to be accumulating possessions, and I’m not opposed to buying them practical items which they will definitely use, what I hope to most bestow upon them is useful advice and lessons learned.

You know, the kind of stuff they don’t initially listen to but eventually might hear echoing in their heads.

10 life lessons for my sons

1. Experiences are usually more valuable than objects.
2. Most of us need far less than we typically have.
3. Try to start the day with something nutritious to eat. I’m not saying the rare day that begins with a Boston cream donut is the end of the world, but make that an infrequent exception. Like the Red Sox winning the World Series.
4. Do your best to be your best.
5. Be someone you’re proud of.
6. Speaking of best, it’s never too late to be your best. Keep trying, you’ve got this.
7. Be the same person in real life as you are online. (Reread #4 & #5, please.)
8. Define yourself by your actions, not by another person’s words.
9. Go everywhere, see everything.
10. Cultivate happiness, it’s the ultimate beauty product.

Witnessing my sons find their way in a world which feels very different than the one I navigated at their ages, is a parenting stage which I’m really enjoying. As I wrote this post, my oldest son had just returned from a long weekend in Toronto and my middle son was boarding a plane for a long weekend in Istanbul. It seems they’ve already absorbed lesson one. 🙂