My momma raised me right. And it stuck!... {a tiny Thankful Thursday tirade}

I have a few things to say this morning. Not anything new, I know. But I feel they must be said, so here goes...

First of all, I am so very thankful that my Mom and Dad taught me about hard work, responsibility, generosity and, perhaps most of all, simple courtesy. They didn't just teach me; they showed me everyday by simply being themselves. I think they both would have done just about anything for anyone. My dad worked, in some form or another, nearly everyday of his life. And he always gave his best to whatever it was he was doing. My mom worked equally hard at home. They were highly responsible people. Until later in my life, they never even had a credit card. My dad was old school: paid for everything with cash. If he didn't have enough cash to buy something, he waited until he had saved enough. And they always treated people with respect and courtesy.

Not only did my parents show me the importance of these qualities, the life lessons I gained from them actually stuck! I feel pretty good about the person I grew up to be. Sure I've got faults. And who doesn't? But, all-in-all, I'm a pretty decent person. And I'm so glad for that.

Now, here comes the tirade part. If you'd like to surf off to another page and read no more, I completely understand. And I won't be offended at all. Truth is, I won't even know you didn't finish reading! So feel free to ditch the whole thing right here and now :)

Events from this morning have shown me all too well how the simplest of virtues can be so easily thrown out the window. Then again, maybe that's phrased incorrectly. I guess if you don't have those qualities in the first place, you can't really throw them anywhere, now can you?

I simply don't understand how someone can be raised by two decent parents, pretty great parents actually, and somehow turn out to be one of the most indecent people in town. (Perhaps on the planet, but I don't want to get too carried away. lol) Seriously, I wonder how none of the lessons one learns as a child can stick with him or her. And I wonder why it isn't obvious to this type of person that something basic is missing from his or her life. There is a certain happiness, after all, that comes from being a person who is considerate of others. A person who works hard for the things they want in life and who is responsible for his or herself and the actions he or she takes. There is something to the old saying that what goes around, comes around. And, maybe it's just me, but I enjoy being a good person. It's so much easier than wasting my time trying to figure out what I can do next to get under someone else's skin. Let's face it, being an angry, bitter person takes a lot out of you. So does being a person you aren't even proud of. Despising yourself is downright exhausting. I know. I've been there before.

So let me just say again how very thankful I am to be good with who I've turned out to be. I can't thank my parents enough for instilling in me the qualities of decency, integrity and responsibility. And I'm glad, too, that their lessons stuck. That I didn't lose sight of those qualities as I got older and came to be on my own. If you possess those kinds of qualities, you should be glad too. Because there are plenty of people around these days who simply do not have them. And, I tend to believe, being devoid of decency and courtesy must make for a pretty lonely life.