Letter to a Child

Dear Child,

You are not as helpless as you think you are.  Not all things are accomplished with money.  If you are standing in a room with thirty children, there is at least one person there who wants to be friends with you.  Don’t be snobby.  Social climbers are the worst and if you are generous socially, you could unwittingly be the inspiration of another person.  And at some point – you will be become a source of inspiration for multiple people.

Fine motor skills take time to develop.  Right now, the visions in your head do not match what you are able to put on paper.  Persistence in all areas is eventually rewarded.  Remember, you need not be an exquisite painter to be an exquisite artist.  And discarding projects is not a cause for regret, but discarding everything is.

Start reading now.  You don’t have to read anything you don’t want to, but work hard to find things you do want to read.  The exercise will help you do better in school and even though the grades don’t matter – the confidence boost does. 

Beg for singing lessons.  Apart from extra lessons that could save your life – singing lessons have the highest value.  You will not be able to cart a piano or your bagpipes everywhere you go and having your own voice with you to cheer you up and give you strength when you feel all alone will do wonders.  Never underestimate the power of music.  Even if you can’t sing on key, learning the words to the songs is of an extremely high value.  The music provided by pop culture is insufficient for healing the soul.  You need something higher.

Don’t waste your time trying to impress people.  There are some people you will never be able to impress, but chances are – you have already impressed them.  You just don’t know it because the reward was insufficient.  That’s how it will always be.  The gap you feel will never be filled unless you fill it yourself.  Gaps are filled with doing good things, improving yourself, finishing things, weeding out the bad parts of your personality, and being willing to give of yourself. 

And little Darling, remember that you are precious.  Don’t hurt yourself.

From,

An Older Adult