In honor of dad's 60th birthday, I wanted to share 60 of the greatest life lessons I have learned from him...
Just kidding, that would take way too long to read, and much longer to write. But, I would like to thank him for some key life lessons he taught me while I was growing up (which he sometimes kindly reminds me of, even to this day).
1. Seize your luck when you see it. My dad, the eternal entrepreneur, always knows what he has on his hands and how to not let it go. He landed my mom this way (great story that is worthy of its own post), ran a business for the last 25 years (another great story I will someday share), and raised two champions that never give up.
2. Love your work and it won't feel like work. He started the family business not by slaving away for a paycheck but by making his hobby his job (which explains my golden nugget of a line when he had to work yet another weekend: "But it's okay, dad - you love working!" - five-year-old Katya, circa 1990).
3. Be yourself, and not the definition you are given by others. My dad is the champion of the "If you don't like me, that is not a reflection of me, but a reflection of you" attitude. He has the uncanny ability to walk through life unaffected by other people's negative emotions and opinions. And, hopefully, to his great joy, I am here to report that this is the one critical lesson that might be finally catching on with me as well :).
Happy Birthday, Dad!
PS: My dad's reaction after having read this post: What is this? An essay you wrote about me? You made me sound quite the zen-like Buddhist philosopher... Lesson number 4 from dad: don't ever take yourself too seriously. :)
A few months back, a co-worker of mine convinced me to join my company's Spartan Race team. He didn't talk it up much: he mentioned it's a long-ish run with a few fun obstacles. You know, no big deal. Something someone who runs as much as me should complete more than easily (read, you don't really need to train for it). Ha ha ha.