I love my family so much. They have left me a rich heritage of faith and they have surrounded me with love and acceptance. And believe me, I don't deserve it. Family is a blessing from God, really. And part of the blessing is all the wisdom these relationships pour into our live.
Last week, along with my friends and family, I said goodbye to two people. I think their memory has made me nostalgic for my own grandparents that I rarely get to see. But whatever the reason, I found myself remembering lessons my grandparents taught me.
I'm very blessed to have two sets of grandparents who have walked through life with me. I've learned a lot from all of them. I might not have mastered all of the lessons yet, and perhaps never will. I strongly doubt that the lessons of "never say a bad word about someone" will keep (mostly because I inherited the art of bluntness from one of my grandfathers.) But I will work on it. And I'll mess up. And then I'll work on it again because right now, looking at my life, I can't imagine anything more worth while than passing their legacy on to the children God will give me.
There's no way that I could put these little lessons in any kind of order. There's really no need to try. So without further ado...
When I was first instructed with this life lesson my grandpa had just read one of my college essays. "This is excellent writing. You could speak this, you know? But, I tell you. If you really want to be an excellent speaker learn a new word everyday. Get out a dictionary and just start learning words. Write it in a sentence. Say it through the day."
I definitely haven't practiced this as religiously as I should. For a while I had an app on my phone that gave me a new word to learn everyday, but I decided I needed the memory for things like music and videos. No, I haven't practiced this lesson. But I think there's a lesson in this lesson that I have applied.
Never quite learning.
Studying, reading, memorizing...all these activities keep our minds sharp and they really do make us better people. Taking classes that feed our imagination. Learning a new skill. Finding a new hobby. These are all activities that increase our brain function. That's what is really important.
This is not a goal that can just be attained. It's a goal that has to be practiced. It's actually more like a discipline. No, disciplines are not easy. They are, in fact, very difficult, but that's what makes them so worth while in the first place.
What is a life lesson you've learned from your grandparents?
