A Couple Things I’ve Learned From My Dad
Being a dad isn't as easy as my dad made it look. It kind of is a trial and error kind of thing. You have to pick your battles. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose (hopefully you win more battles than you lose). The important thing is that when you do lose a battle you learn from it. Here are just a few of the lessons that my dad taught me as I was growing up.
• I make a better door than a window.
• I wasn’t raised in a barn and I should close the door.
• If I wanted to fight one of my brothers, the winner had to take him on next (in turn, we didn't want to fight much because we knew that he would have killed us).
• If you put your name on something, you better make it good.
• Work hard
• Life isn’t going to give you anything. If you want something, you have to earn it.
• If you promise someone something, you come through on that promise.
• Don’t shake a man’s hand if you don’t mean it, and look him in the eye when you do.
• Be cautious but never be afraid.
• A belt passing through belt loops is an effective means of communication.
• You never start a fight. But if you find yourself in one, make sure you finish it. And if you’re the only person fighting against a couple of other people, take on the biggest one first.
• When someone from Oklahoma (He was born and raised in Oklahoma) asks for a PIN, they want a writing utensil, and we needed to go to the bathroom to WARSH our hands and to use the TORLET.
• There’s nothing more important than God, your family, and your country.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be nothing like my dad. Now when someone says I’m just like him, it’s the biggest compliment that they can pay me. If my kids love me when I die half as much as I love my dad, I will have been the luckiest man to walk the earth since he did it.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads this weekend.