Day 7...

Today I am thankful for a good example my parents (and Patrick's parents) set for both of us growing up. We were taught to work hard, be proud of our achievements, and that we were not entitled to anything without earning it. Both of us had jobs at 16 years old and held part time ones through college. Even though we were fortunate that our parents paid for most of college (from hard earned money that they worked for), we still had to earn good grades, contribute back to society, and learn how to live on our own. We were able to find careers we were passionate about. We loved working and enjoyed the benefits of our hard work. We also learned valuable lessons about saving money, being on a budget, and not being codependent on anybody else. We never expected instant success and we knew it was something that needed to be earned. Both of us took jobs with salaries well below our friends because we knew we could work hard and get to places we wanted to be in a profession we enjoyed. And we both succeeded. We both watched our parents' faces light up when we graduated...from our universities, from our MBAs, from medical school and lastly, from residency. They were proud of our achievements - but I think more than anything, proud that they raised children WITHOUT entitlement. Children who appreciated their successes. Children who would be a positive influence in society. Now that we are parents, we hope we are instilling these virtues in Gavin and Evelyn. We try to teach them responsibility to help themselves, to help others and to help others help themselves. "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." We want them to work hard and have positive reinforcements....because it is prideful. It always feels better to earn something on your own than to be given it. They have a piggy bank (from Edward Jones financial) that has multiple slots in it for spending now, donating to charity and saving for the future. No matter what the results from the election, I KNOW we will always be hard workers. We will always care about our value in society. We will always strive to be helpful and charitable. We will always care more about our 'things' because they are ours and were not handed to us without earning it. We will value our time and resources and hope that someday our children will understand how important it is to instill these attributes in their children, just as Patrick and I are understanding it now.