Lessons for ALL of us from father-son relationships
Paul White's nationally distributed syndicated column, “Lessons for ALL of us from father-son relationships,” is published in 22 publications across seven states. This includes the following newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News (MI), SFGate (CA), Seattle PI (WA), Connecticut Post (CT), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Huron Daily Tribune (MI), The Telegraph (IL), and more. In this week's article, Paul honors his father by sharing the life lessons he shared and offers guidance on developing character traits for a successful and joyful life.
This article is targeting all humans from about the age of 12 to anyone who can boast an age that contains three digits.
I know that’s a lot of people, and I’m loading this article up with some applicable wisdom that everyone can utilize immediately.
My dad would have turned 100 today.
Born on August 5, 1923, he was the youngest of three children and grew up in the Detroit area. Upon finishing high school, like many, he enlisted, being assigned to the Ninth Air Division of the Army Air Corps (currently referred to as the Air Force), and soon found himself in Europe working on P-47 Thunderbolt single-engine fighter airplanes supporting the effort to stop Hitler. He knew that a pilot’s life depended on the work he performed as a mechanic and accepted that responsibility. He advanced on the beach at Normandy on the nineteenth day of the D-Day invasion. The reason I’m sharing this information is because it was during this time that he developed the character traits that would define the rest of his life.
When it came to the color of a person’s skin, my dad was color-blind. Nationality didn’t matter as well. He quickly learned that the only thing that mattered was the strength of a person’s character. Growing up in a racially divided (at the time) city like Detroit, this was a HUGE realization for him that he held on to and shared with others for the rest of his life. Being in the service required him to put his life in the hands of others, just as he held their life in his. I’ve come to realize that some of the military PTSD suffered in our current culture can stem from experiencing the trust of someone always having their back while serving, coming home to a society where few, if any, embrace that mentality. It makes a person wonder what our world would look like if we all did.
During his service time in Europe, Dad witnessed death up close and personal. When an air raid siren blared, and an enemy plane began strafing the area in a 20-foot-wide path, a person running not four feet to his left was killed as both were running for cover. This, and a few similar experiences, left him wondering why it was that guy and not him. It was those experiences that led to a full and forever commitment to his faith which he leaned on heavily for the rest of his life. He was adamant that I understand that a successful life must have faith in the foundation of a person’s life. He shared with everyone that faith had the ability to turn any possibility into a probability. He also shared that it frustrated him that so many people in this world pass right by utilizing faith in their life, which he considered the most powerful tool in anyone’s “toolbox for life” (ponder THAT for a moment).
Dad loved engaging with other people. He always issued everyone a “character free pass” upon meeting them and maintained that status until proven wrong by an individual, which he hoped never occurred. During his career in the laundry and drycleaning industry, he had the privilege of managing up to 150 co-workers (he never called them employees) and, at the age of 53, had the privilege of finally owning his own business.
Throughout his career, he treated the people he worked with as an equal, always focused on helping them be the best person they were capable of being. He showered them with respect, appreciation, and encouragement and created an environment where, regardless of position, the ground was level for everyone, with each person contributing to the greater good of the collective group.
Dad was kind. He loved volunteering and helping others. He pursued utilizing his time, talent, and treasure as best he could. He introduced me to delivering “Meals on Wheels,” which we did together once a month for nearly 16 years. It was such a humbling, uplifting, growing, and learning experience each time we delivered. I experienced great love and caring compassion while delivering all those meals. After he passed away in 2008, I continued delivering meals and introduced the lessons learned to many other individuals that I would ask to help me.
So what about YOU? While I could write an entire book on the lessons learned from my dad (and another on the lessons my mom taught me), I’ve shared a few short lessons attempting to make you think about the things that happen in each of our lives and how they impact what defines us.
How do the things that have happened in your life impact the way your character is accurately defined? What do you stand for? How many unique ways do you have a positive impact on the world? What character traits could you add to your life that would positively serve the greater good?
The best way to find out is to take some form of immediate action. Consider a soft start: How could you make a positive difference in just one person’s life before the end of the day today? If you could list the five character traits that you consider most important to anyone’s life, what would they be? I hope you’ll take immediate action to answer some of these questions.
Why? Because I believe YOU have the ability and talents to bring positive change to this wonderful world we all share! So, get busy and GiddyUp!
In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist, Paul White is an author, motivational and inspirational speaker, entrepreneur, podcaster, and life coach located in Midland, Michigan. His new book, “The Answer Discovery – How to Change the World by Helping Others…and Ourselves,” is available to purchase today. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.