SEEDS, ROOTS & FOUNDATION

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking because of so much blast from the past memories. I visited my dad recently and I am so saddened that his age is catching up on him. When I was a little girl, my dad would always tell stories of his days in the military or his hopes and dreams for the future. He often made up stories to please us children. I remember he made up a story for us that became our song. We would sing it (with matching actions) before bed for many years. It goes like this:

There was a man named, Don Mariano Tayo

He was a very rich man
He travelled the world on his most beautiful ship

In his ship were most of his riches

But one night in the middle of the wide ocean

A storm came in and sank his ship

Don Mariano became a very very poor man (napurdoy si Don Mariano)

He told this story in our native language (bisaya) for many many years. It became our favorite story to the point that throughout the years of hearing this, we came up with a melody to go with it. So it became our infamous song. We sang it to him before going to bed at night. The image of his face expression (so much joy), is still very vivid in my head. I know my dad has many happy moments, but for me, this was the moment I saw him the happiest. As we children got older, the singing was lesser and lesser but I will never forget it and will treasure it forever. My dad may not be perfect but he is an inspiration to me.

I adopted this and applied it to my children. When Ryan was born, I started making up stories and songs. There's one song that became his favorite – it's called I LOVE YOU FOREVER. I sang this song to him almost every night until he was 6 years old. It was the only thing that helped him sleep. Until now, he would ask that I sing this to him.  I find myself automatically doing the same thing with my little girl. I guess it's second nature to me now. I don't have to force myself or remind myself but it's naturally just happen.

So I have come to a conclusion that how we live our life affects our children's lives and the future generations. The seeds, roots and foundation we instill to them will be pass on to the future generations because as we raise our children, we are imparting to them "us", and they will then do the same with their children. One good example is my parents. In my entire life I have never seen my parents fight. Now that I'm a married woman myself, I know they must have many disagreements but never one occasion where I saw or heard them fight. My only explanation to this is, they learned to suppress their emotions when necessary and put up a happy face for us children and other people. Not to be fake but because aside from them two, others are irrelevant or are outsiders to what is going on or what has happened. Mama Lily has been living with us since 2003.  She told me many times that she's never seen us fight and ask if we ever fought - trust me we did!  For me, I find it very embarrassing if a person can tell that something is wrong based on how we act and look. People have their own situations, so the last thing they want to deal is ours.

I guess what I'm trying to say is our children will inherit SOME of our characters – whether good or bad. I hear people say to me "you're just like your mom." It's true! I have many traits that came from my mom. It's human nature to "become." Example: If the parents are doctors, most likely one (or more) of their children are doctors. Same goes with other professions such as lawyers, architects, accountants & etc.. Even alcoholics, serial killers and abused children are more prone to do the same thing.

I am no expert but I believe that our actions are the fruit or the symptoms of the real seed which rooted. If we plant bad seeds in our heart, it will bring forth bad fruits, for a lemon tree cannot bear sweet red apples. What you sow is what you reap.

There are many areas in the SEEDS, ROOTS & FOUNDATION topic. This "thought of mine" doesn't even touch it! I'm sharing my thoughts on this topic because I am reminded and very grateful to have such wonderful and loving parents. Humanity can never reach the stage of perfection. This applies to family, but my family means a lot to me.

 The following verse and quote are inspirations to me:

"For what a man thinketh, so is he." Proverbs 23:7

 "Watch your thoughts, for they become words
Watch your words, for they become actions
Watch your actions, for they become habits
Watch your habits, for they become character
Watch your character, for it becomes your future."