Every Day

There is no easy way to learn how to be alive. There is no simple formula that allows one to breeze through life without facing hardship and days where every single thing seems to go wrong.

There is not a doubt in my mind that the people who allow me to keep on in those dark days are my family members, from my father and mother to my older sister and best friend, to every sister and brother I have.

Wisdom is not something you acquire in one shot, it is truly an every day process, ever renewed. Sometimes you give wisdom and sometimes you take it, this is how we - or anyway, I - learn to cope with what happens to me in the course of my life.

And thanking a mentor is, in my opinion, making them proud by applying the principles they have taught you, by managing to face your darker days while still being able to smile.

How do you thank someone that gives you a little bit of hope in the grayest days, how do you give them back what they have given you, wise words, a pat on the shoulder, encouragements when you thought you were at the end of your rope?

A mother and a father take care of you when you are helpless, unable to move, speak, or defend yourself.

With time and patience, they show you the most important lessons in life, which is: How to Take Care of Yourself.

How to face adversity, how to stand up to those who would bring you down simply for their enjoyment, how to think around what seems like unsurmountable obstacles that sap your strength.

How to act with others, how to be true to your own beliefs, how to pursue your goals and reach your objectives.

The best way to thank the people that shape you is to honor their teachings and carry them on, showing them to others so that, in the end, the world can become a better place.

There is no time limit to such teachers, there is no end to what they can bring you, even when you least expect it.

So thank you for having showed me how to think for myself, how to analyze my feelings, how to observe a situation without taking hasty judgments and most importantly, how to always think of myself first.

Your lives weren't easy but you didn't use this as an excuse to be unfair; you treated the way you would have liked to be treated and taught me this important rule, lacking in so many people in spite of their supposed best resolutions.

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

In dealing with others, this is the most useful rule, so simple in its applications that most people forget all about it.

Would you like to be mistreated? Ridiculed? Taken for granted and abused? If you don't want that for yourself, why impose it on others?

Those who abuse will have to face their own conscience, so do not soil your hands by taking up their punishment upon yourself.

A mentor is a true friend, someone who will remind you of what you have been taught when you lose your way because the world around you becomes insane. They will give you that little push to tell you: This is not the end of the world, and if you cannot do anything else, then survive.

If you are unable to keep your sanity, stay away, if you can't control yourself, stop.

How do I say thank you for their teachings, for their care, for their love?

Every day, I stay alive, and try to help them the same.

THE END