good advice to pass on

Have you had any advices given to you? Those that you hold close to your heart and try to give your best to follow them? These are advices that you want your children to heed as they go through life. I had a few of them. Some were given to me by my parents, my teachers, friends and I have one that was given by someone I hardly knew.

When I was growing up, my abah told me, 'You have only one chance in your life, so you better make full use of it'. Only one chance, either you make it or you break it. That simple advice made me what I am today. With that advice, I know if I screwed up, there's no way of turning back. So I made sure that I passed my exams with flying colours at one sitting. I failed once but I picked up the pieces and learned from my mistake. It saddened me when some students did not study hard after given the opportunity to study overseas or locally. They have this chance in their hands and they blew it.

After I got married, my abah said this to me, ' The minute your husband walks out of the house to go to work, he is no longer your husband'. Imagine that! I'm his daughter and he said that to me. This is one tough advice to follow. Little did I know the real meaning behind it at that time. Over the years I understood what my father was trying to say to me. It was of no surprise when my daughter, Nadia, got married, I gave her the same advice. Well, my sons, I have this to say when you get married. 'The minute you get out of the house to go to work, please remember that you still have one foot left behind'.

Never ever expect anything from anyone. This advice almost always keep me on my toes. It tells me that bribery is a sin. I am to work hard for things that I want. Do not expect a thank you after you have done something or give anything. This way you know that what you have done is 'ikhlas'. There's no need to tell the world that you have done this and that. At the end of the day you know that you don't owe anyone and nobody owes you anything.

I still have a lot more advices that I want to pass on. Not only to my children but to those who are reading my blog. I will only be too happy if any of the advices will help you in any small way. I'll be writing more on this in my future blog. In the meantime, pass it on.. that's what we do to good advice..pass it on.