Life Lessons & Sound Advice II

This Life Lesson is inspired by the recent poor behavior of two prominent American Celebrities - one a very well known tennis player, the other a well known r&b/hip hop/rap artist (whom I've not been able to stand since his first outburst after Hurricane Katrina...I digress). I hope that it doesn't take my children as long to figure this one out as it did me...for a long time I thought good role models were all celebrities...was I wrong. Sometimes the best role models are right under your nose, someone that might quietly sneak up on you when you realize you've been turning to them for love, advice, support and general shoulder-to-lean-on moments through life. As a teen, and maybe even a good amount of my twenties I thought I knew it all (like most teenagers...) and I thought all those celebs did too. Nope. As it turns out, I did NOT know everything and many of those beloved celebrities are no longer on the map - though I still say Jennifer Aniston IS a strong female role model for her perseverance in the face of today's all-too-harsh media.
This week, the two celebrities I mentioned above proved that being famous most certainly does not make a person humble, nor gracious in any sense of the word. The tennis player, given a foot fault, told the line judge she was going to stick the tennis ball in her hands in a place where there are MANY explitive 'four letter words'...all this while being filmed on live television for the world to see, youtube and google to their hearts' content.
The 'musician' (using this term VERY loosely here) was announcing the winner of a particular award at the Mtv VMA's. When he announced the winner, he then informed the world on live television that this person did not deserve the win, that in fact it was another person. It was appalling that he did this, especially since he totally caught the ACTUAL winner off guard. It wasn't what this young woman dreamed of, I'm sure.
So, to my son and any other children we will have I ask you this: please take the time to look up the definitions of the words HUMBLE and GRACIOUS. They are two words to live by. It may take some time to become humble and gracious, but it is a goal and a journey worth making. When a person is truly humble they can appreciate that we are all God's children, one in the same yet each unique. And when a person is truly gracious, they do not see it as being difficult to be kind to anyone. Kindness goes a long way...that'll come in another post however.
I'm not perfect, FAAAAAARRRRRR from it. Each day I have to remind myself that I am human and must work to be the humble and gracious person God wants me to be.
Those two words will take you far in life!