November 11th we honor our fallen soldiers. Lest we forget that these men who fought for better future were also dads and this blog is about dads. I take a great pride knowing that my grandfather fought and survived both world wars. My grandfather legacy is what I like to pass on and instill into my son.
To talk about my role as a dad and more particular about how do I pay it forward, I have had the pleasure to present to a group of dads called #YVRdads, which I never thought I would be attending but, I was pleasantly surprised.
“Lest we forget; it is easy to be human, very hard to be humane. Mirza Khan Ghalib
Nothing is what it seems to be. The world we perceive through our sub-conscious mind is not the physical reality. We as adults need to realize that and through our actions we inspire our children or hopefully others. Children are born with no pre-conceptions about humans, nature or anything else in this world. As parents we have the power to set a foundation that will stay with them forever.
To me action speaks volume so I like to teach my child to help others therefore pay it forward. I like to get involved in not directly self-promoting activities and more community orientated.I support various community groups where I live like Kit House, Pumpkin Patch at my son school, Beauty Night Society, Big Brother and Canucks Place. I am also part of a Toastmasters club and coach my son soccer team. Every time I return from volunteering I talk with my son what happened and how gratefully he should be to have all the privileges he has now because of his predecessors.
Sometime I associate my business life as a Vancouver REALTOR with being a dad with a rollercoaster. I come up with 5 similarities.
- Both have ups and downs.
- Both require participation – watching just isn’t the same.
- Both can be fun one minute and terrifying the next.
- Both are more fun when shared with others.
- Both go very fast and don’t last long enough
Therefore, one of the precious things we have in life is time. I decided to give my time to various charities because so many people graceciouly helped along the way to becoming whom I am today.
I teach my son to donate money to homeless from his piggy bank and to share cloths and toys to other kids. I teach my son to save bottles and recycle them and donate money to homeless or save money towards a toy he wants. Hopefully he will learn to pay it forward as I do and his grandfather did.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me michael@michaeltudorie.com
Thank you,