2009 Model Citizen of the Year
On December 6th, I had the pleasure of attending a banquet put on by the United Chinese Society of Hawaii, honoring 2009's Model Citizen of the Year: My father.
As you may have read from previous blogs of mine (when I actually do write), my dad lives to serve others. He has so many accomplishments, and the prestigious award he received on the 6th is just one of many. I am so proud of what he has done, proud to be his son, and proud of what he stands for in the community. I had the honor of giving a speech on behalf of my 2 brothers who are currently not in Hawaii and live on the East Coast. I'd like to just share what I have really learned from him and my mother, and what I hope to instill in my family and children in the future. I truly feel that if we are able to live by these virtues, we will have a happy, loving family, and we will be able to lead by example to help others around us.
- Have faith in God.
- Have faith in people, whether it may be yourself, your family, or your friends,...and make sure that faith grounds you and gives you hope and direction so that you don't wander off and live according to what you THINK you know to be true. Faith will give you respect for others and will allow you to be comforted. Faith will give you a reason not to feel like you are alone in this world and that you have to fend for yourself.
- In everything that you do, DO THE RIGHT THING. Don't let your fear of a particular outcome steer you in the wrong direction. If all else fails, at least you will have known that you did what was right and that it was not your fault.
- Show humility no matter what you do, what you accomplish, what you have gone through, and what people tell you. If you humble yourself, you will find that discussions will not turn into fights, friends will not turn into enemies, and opportunities will turn into fortune.
- Respect others, no matter who they are, what position they hold, what they have gone through, and where they come from. Everybody deserves respect.
- Love your neighbor as you would want them to love you (aka Golden Rule, aka Matthew 7:12). As self-explanatory as it may seem, most people just don't get it. Don't complain if somebody treats you badly and know that you have not treated everyone well your whole life. Instead, figure out how you can break that chain and treat somebody else extra nice.
- Do not take your loved ones for granted. Make sure you tell people how much they mean to you. You never know when that opportunity will disappear, and you will make such a positive difference in their life if you DO tell them.
- Pay if forward. Good fortune will come to you if you promise to pass it on, whether it may be in the form of money, possessions, and especially wisdom.
- Listen more than you speak. You can learn from any situation and any person....even if they are wrong. Find out what is to be learned from any given situation.
- Always strive to improve yourself.
- Surround yourself with positive, uplifting people, and be productive with your thoughts and words. I LOVE this quote: "Great people talk about great ideas; average people talk about average ideas; small people talk about other poeple."--Anonymous
If you're done reading all this and you think, "Oh god, how cliche," I feel sorry for you, because you don't want to grow. Hopefully none of you feel this way! If you are enlightened by this, please don't think that I deserve any credit, because I don't....my parents do, and others who have told you similar things do. Just follow these virtues, and take some quality time to share it with people, and hopefully more and more people will be impacted.
Aloha.
