10 Life Lessons I Learnt from My Father

Jun 18, 2017 by     Comments Off on 10 Life Lessons I Learnt from My Father    Posted under: Non-Fiction

My father has always been my inspiration and my role model. As my memory recalls, I remember him being the kind, caring and loving father and person. He would never get angry at us, his kids, no matter what we did and he didn’t believe in scolding or reprimanding children. In compensation for that, my mom was the strict parent in the house and my baba would often be the one protecting us from getting beaten by mom. When I was a baby, my father would hold me and rock me to-and-fro in his arms, singing lullabies every night until I slept. I always felt like he loved me more than my brother and would always bring me more gifts & chocolates than for anyone else from his out-of-country visits. In 1999, before he left for a 3-month visit to Beijing, China for official reasons, I who was aged 6 at the time, remember howling and crying and pleading him not to go. Such was the father-daughter love between us. With a heavy heart and tears in his eyes, he left. He has always been there for us whenever we needed him, regardless of whatever work he was doing at the time. He doesn’t get tired of praising me and my achievements in front of people. He is super proud of me and I of him, since he is the reason why I am the way I am today. Today I decided to share a few lessons that I have learned from him in this journey of life so far.

1. Always be grateful

My father always taught me that happiness is more important than money. A person should be content in what he has and in whatever circumstances he is going through, one should always be thankful to Allah. Not only do we please Allah by being grateful but we also live a healthier and happier life free of stress and worries.

2. Be patient

I have seen my father being patient at all times and never complaining or grumbling when things do not go as planned or when misfortune strikes. He is a true embodiment of patience and strength and I admire him a lot for it. Moreover, I rarely see him getting angry at anyone or anything which has also made me a lot patient and tolerant towards life and varying circumstances.

3. To always keep a smiling and cheerful atmosphere at home

No matter how his mood is or how tensed his mind is, my father is always in a joyful mood at home cracking jokes to lighten the atmosphere and making his kids laugh. After coming home from office, he comes by to visit us kids in our rooms and asks us how our day was. At dinner time, he makes sure that everyone is seated at the table. He immediately guesses if anyone is not in a good mood and asks personally about what’s wrong and not to worry if something is troubling our minds.

4. Be humble

I have always seen my father as a very humble person and never rebuking or thinking lowly of the ones who belong to lower classes of society. He calls everyone as bhai (brother) and even tells us that all humans are made the same, there must be no differentiation between them with regards to race, colour, money etc. He keeps the same cordial and friendly attitude with all people at his office be they his colleagues, juniors, seniors or even the janitors.

5. Importance of serving one’s parents in their old age

My father did his best to serve his parents and inculcated the same lessons in his children to respect, love and care for their parents and grandparents. He did everything in his capacity to be a good son, father and husband.

6. Follow your passions even if it means doing something different

My father loves to cook and nothing has deterred him from following it as a hobby. Despite my mum telling him not to go into the kitchen, he still would manage to go in there and cook something for his family. He even scribbled down recipes from his mother and around the internet on a diary and would choose one recipe to cook every Sunday. Now our Sunday mornings are incomplete without my father’s cooked omelettes. He always encourages and praises my efforts at anything I do, be it making a dish/dessert or making the first roti or trying out my skills in handicrafts and origami.

7. Sabr, Shukar, Darguzar (Patience, Gratitude and Forgiveness)

These three words hold great importance to me as they are what my father taught me throughout his life. It’s the secret recipe if one wants to be successful and happy in life. Forgiving one’s friends and enemies is equally important as much as forgiving one’s own self for the mistakes made in life. One should have no regrets and no grudges.

8. To be dedicated to one’s work and profession

My father spent his entire life earning for his family through halal means. He always put great emphasis on earning only by halal means and to avoid haram money by giving/receiving common immoral practices like bribes or such. I never saw him taking a leave off work unless it was something very important. He believes in building up his country and worked hard for it to uplift the name of his organization and his country. I am proud of his work ethics and he is a great role model to follow.

9. There is no substitute for hard work

My father always taught us through his own example to work hard, to be committed to one’s work and to achieve as much success as possible in life.

10. You don’t become poor by giving

My father is a great believer in the phrase that one never becomes poor by giving. He has always donated money and other necessary items to the needy every month either at his workplace or in our neighbourhood and in philanthropic organisations. And because of his helping nature, my father is much liked and admired by people, be they from any class of our society.

I am so thankful to Allah Almighty for blessing me with such a wonderful father and family. May Allah bless all fathers with long and healthy lives. Ameen!

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