I think many people wonder why I have found it so hard to move on since my husbands passing more than 5 1/2 years ago. I think sharing this letter that he wrote will give you an idea of what an awesome man he was. I know I can never replace him, and I have no desire to try, but I also refuse to settle for less than what I now know is possible because of him. Here is the letter, It was addressed to my children Tyler T-Time Smith and Lindsey Nicole Smith and the grandchildren he never had the privilege of knowing on this earth, but it is wisdom we can all apply to our lives. To my children and future grandchildren: I would like to share the following wisdom with you in hopes that it will make your life happier and easier. When we are children we are born with kind and loving hearts. Sometimes as we go down the road of life, influences can dim these all important gifts. I want to pass on to you some of the things my father taught me that have served me very well. The things I will tell you almost everybody knows, but are at times extremely hard to practice. First, the person who wins the game of life is not the one who accumulates the most wealth. It will be the person who spreads the most joy and love. If you become wealthy or famous, remember, with this comes awesome responsibility. That is why we should be careful about what we want. Joy from wealth is often very short-lived. Joy from acts of kindness will serve you and last you a lifetime. If you do not become wealthy, do not become envious of those who have wealth. Be thankful for what you do have and concentrate on the things that are worth more than all the gold in the world. These are love and kindness. No one can ever take these things away from you. The joy and love you gave me no one can take away. The next thing is, we need to always respect and honor our parents. They do what they think is best for us out of love. They raise us with no guidebook, and only the wisdom of the number of years they have been on the Earth. Which brings us to wisdom, never stop learning! Wisdom is not necessarily intelligence. Wisdom is not the amount of knowledge, but the utilization of knowledge. You must amplify the gifts you are blessed with, and always try to strengthen your weaknesses. A wise person knows they are no better than anyone else, but also that they are just as important as everyone else. Be very careful of your spoken words; once they are said the effect of them cannot be changed no matter how much we want. Your spoken words have the ability to destroy a person. They can also, if spoken at the proper time, save a persons life. Try to practice thinking before you speak especially in very important matters, be they important to you or to others. Remember that your word is your bond. This means that people will act on what you say as being true. Do not lead people into trouble by a lie. The thing you will learn about a lie is, even if nobody ever finds out, you will still always know. Always do your best, in an honest and truthful manner. If you do this you can rise in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror and be proud and not feel anguish or guilt. Mistakes are made by all people. Remember a mistake is an honest wrongdoing because we had a lack of knowledge or wisdom. We are expected to learn from this and not repeat the action. Forgiveness is very, very important. We must forgive others for honest mistakes, because if we cant, it becomes very hard to forgive ourselves. Remember we want to be proud of what we see in the mirror. Like love and joy forgiveness cannot be bought with all the wealth in the world. Love and kindness to yourself and others is the only way to defeat evil. When you are mean to people, they will be mean to you. If a person is mean to you first, without cause, you can teach them the lesson of their life if you respond with love and kindness. They are not ready to defend against that. The world says it is a big man that can admit his mistakes. This is not our nature, we want to be right, so we have to rely on our wisdom and that good feeling we get when we look in the mirror. All the bad things and life like lying, cheating, stealing, bitterness, and hatred all have a very short term of gratification or good feeling. In the long run they will be all-consuming and your life ends up miserable just attacking and defending what is not real are worth anything. To be happy we need to maintain a good balance in our lives. There are times for laughter and joy, and times for serious work. The key is balance; too much of either for very long is not good. Take a moment each day to reflect on the past day to check your balance. You will be bombarded daily by people lacking intelligence or tactfulness. They try to gain pleasure by hurting others. They end up miserable souls. Learn to identify them quickly, feel sympathy for them, and pray they gain the wisdom that love and kindness is where true happiness lies. Be thankful you are not one of them and move along. Do not be tricked into good feelings by others pain. Seek council, be quick to listen, and slow to speak. We do not know where the true wisdom we gain in life may come from. Maybe the beggar and maybe the King, but listen, retain what is good, forget what is not. Always remember we are not learning while we are speaking. Also, because the words we say cannot be taken back, we want to be wise counsel for others This letter like learning and wisdom and love and kindness never ends. Take it with you. It should never hurt, but always heal. Remember you deserve to be happy. I have passed these things on to make your life easier. Remember that if you are very sad and havent been practicing these lessons I have shared, the good news is tomorrow is a new day, the Lord will forgive a sincere plea, and you are on the road to happiness. My true hope for you is that true happiness, discernment, and wisdom will come to you. Continue to share the love and kindness you now have. I think that is a special gift you already possess. Use it often, so it never grows dim. I was very proud to be her father and I wouldve been even prouder to be the grandfather of your children. Please pass this wisdom along to them. Love and happiness: Sylvan
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 04:51:41 +0000
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