Dear Teddy and Lily,

• Speak smartly. Never underestimate the seductive power of a decent vocabulary or the impressive power     of good grammar.

• Don’t swear: it makes you sound uneducated and bitter. There are many more intelligent, descriptive, expressive words than the 4 letter variety.  Please use them.

• No put downs. We rise by lifting others.

• Be kind. We are all just walking each other home. (Ram Dass)

• Have fun. Explore. Create. Taking time to live life and have rich experiences will only inspire your work.

• Be nice to yourself. Value your mind, body and spirit. The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others. You teach people how to treat you.

• Be nice to others. The world is a small town.

• Ask questions. Don’t believe everything you hear (especially on the Internet).

• Keep an open mind. Don’t believe everything you think.

• Listen. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.

• Think you can like the Little Engine That Could. Optimism is the very foundation of courage.

• Don’t gossip. Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss    people. (Eleanor Roosevelt) Be great.

• Read every day. Everything. Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.  Books expand our horizons and our minds.

• Be open to new experiences, places, people, foods, ideas. It is when we step outside of our comfort zones that we grow.

• Remember you have choices. One of the hardest parts of life is deciding whether to walk away from relationships, tasks, trials, dreams or goals, or try harder.

• Choose carefully. You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with, and what you do every day matters much more than what you do every once in awhile.

• Disagree, disapprove, dislike, but do not hate. Hate. It has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet. (Maya  Angelou)

• Forgive yourself. Forgive others. We all make mistakes. Carrying a grudge holds you back...down.

• Don’t worry. Worrying is like praying for what you don’t want.

• Find the good or interesting in everyone you encounter. Everyone you will ever meet knows something  you don’t. (Bill  Nye)  Let them be a lesson or a blessing.

• Be thoughtful and have a warm heart. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. (Maya Angelou)

• Steer clear of envy. Comparison is the thief of joy. (Theodore Roosevelt) Jealousy is an ugly sin.

• Be realistic. Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.

• Be a voice not an echo. Be a leader not a lemming. Blaze your own trails.  Stand up for yourself and others.  Be uniquely you.

• Walk away and say no from time to time. You don’t have to attend every argument or party you’re invited to, or share all you know or think.

• Make your own fun. Only boring people are bored.

• Be.Here.Now. Live all the moments of your life. The present is our greatest gift.

Love,
Your Mom who must be reminded daily to live by these very rules.