Offaly influencer celebrates International Daughters Day

This week we celebrated International Daughters Day with our two fabulous and beautiful daughters Mia and Sophie, our amazing angels and our life and what we now only live for. We love them to Infinity and beyond and more than that too. We are so proud of our sweethearts, a real gift to us from God above. We love them both to the moon and back and more than that too and thank them for making our lives better than me and my beautiful wife could ever have imagined. Thank you both for being the greatest thing in our lives. Here is a letter I wrote to them awhile back to let them know they are always loved and cherished.

To Our Daughters

Dearest Mia and Sophie, We love you both so much. This thought for the week starts with such because it is why this is written. We want to start off by saying how much we love you and always will. You are both the most special gift we have ever been given from God and we will remember that always. From the moment we knew you both were on the way, we felt the love that is so overwhelming. We never knew a love so fierce as the love we felt for you the moment you were both placed on our chests.

We heard there is nothing like a parent’s love, but we never understood what it meant until that moment. We know we are far from perfect, and can only hope to be half the parents that we were blessed and fortunate to have, but we can promise you one thing, we couldn’t love you more. We will always try our best but there are times when we will fail, times when we will let you both down and we hope you can forgive us. We will try to give you everything you both need and some of the things you both would like. We will put your needs as much as we possibly can before ours always.

Writing these honest words gives us a sense of purpose and joy that cannot be explained. In that moment when we first held you both we knew that we wanted to protect you both from the evils of the world and teach you how to be strong independent women. We know that some of these words may be hard for you to understand now, but we are still writing them anyway. We are hoping that these words in time and especially when we are gone will help you along the way of your journey of life.

Love with Heart and Soul

Learn to love with all your heart and soul. Love is the greatest feeling anyone could ever have, give, receive or experience. It is free to give or receive. Always remember it is important to love yourself too. Fall in love with every single piece of yourself. The great, the bad, the good, the beautiful and the ugly. The majority of your happiness will come from self love. You'll never be happy in life if you don't accept and love yourself. So start this moment by loving yourself so you can spread that love and more to others, especially those most in need in our world.

We want you to remember that love is worth it when it’s real, but love is not the same thing as affection, gifts, or other romantic movie type stuff. Love is sacrifice and hard work. Love is being more concerned about the wellbeing of your other half than you are for your own. Love also means sometimes having your heart broken, and that’s okay too. Broken hearts heal, and loving deeply and truly is worth it. We want you to fall in love, and fall hard, but also let yourself–your true self–be loved deeply in return. Don’t hold back when you find your love, sweethearts. Love is always worth the risk and love is always kind, passionate and caring. Speak your mind but always as much as possible consider other people’s feelings and emotions. Relationships are so fragile at times that even a single act of rudeness may ruin or destroy everything you have built. Speak up if you see injustices and inequalities in your surroundings.

Make a stand if you feel that your rights are abandoned but have your limits and know when to stop. Remember that words can either build or destroy relationships or even lives. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone.

Remember
May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. Learn new things, explore the world, and have fun but do not compromise your values. It will be your best line of defense no matter where you are. Carry these values firmly and have a good sense of right and wrong and you will be fine. Live. Discover. Go to festivals and events. Do stuff and experience things. Even though this will break our hearts one day, we want more for you both. We want you to travel the world if you can afford too. See things, experience different cultures, taste different foods, help those most in need in our world and learn that the world is a much smaller place than you think. These experiences will enrich your heart. Follow your dreams and heart’s desire but only if they are good and true. It’s ok to aim for wealth and success but always bear in mind that happiness is more important. Wealth and success does not always guarantee happiness but loving our fellow human beings honestly and from the heart does. If ever you’ll be successful and you have plenty please don’t forget to look back and find sincerity and compassion to help others, especially those most in need in your lives and in our world. Remember where you both came from.

Exercise your discernment. Your mind and heart must agree to have a sound judgment in every issue of life. Always choose to do the right thing rather than doing things right. Remember, whatever decision you make today will have an impact ahead. Don’t be afraid to fight for what is right, true and just. We hope we can be examples of a good fighter for you both. We have fought all our lives for ourselves and for others. We want you both to be "them" people too. If you see injustice or inequality or corruption, we want you to be brave and bold enough to fight against it. When you know that someone is doing wrong, we want you to stand up and tell the world about it and then do your best to fight against it. You may not win every battle, because sometimes this world favors greed over good, but it doesn’t matter. Fight anyway. Be the light and the voice and advocate for good and truth in this world. Fighting for what is right and true is always the right choice. May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand.  May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Be Not Afraid
Do not underestimate yourself and others. You are powerful when you learn to believe in yourself. Power starts in believing. Believe that you are created to make an impact and reach new heights. On the other hand, be realistic with your expectations and always remember that there are people who are better than you, thus, never underestimate your peers and acquaintances. Stay humble but self assured. It is safer for you to think that we are all created with power and uniqueness. Compete with yourself and be better every time. You are worthy of all good things. Don’t be afraid to fail. Yes, one way or another you will fail. We all fail. Cry and be disappointed. Even the most successful people in the world fail. What’s most important is that you get up and pick a lesson or two from your experience and move ahead. Be brave when you need to be. In this life, there are lots of battles, that is why you need to choose your ground. Ignore the petty ones, they are not worth your time.  Do not bully others, but protect yourself from bullies. Never, ever, ever, ever settle for second best. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are not worthy. You are smart, talented, kind, beautiful, and capable of doing anything you set your mind to. You should chase after the best of everything and expect that it can be yours because you are worth everything good. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.

Thought for the Week

As your thought for the week, always remember that both of you are the greatest joy and miracles in our world. When you both arrived into our lives we were so blessed, honoured and grateful beyond words. All our prayers were answered. Love you Mia and Sophie to infinity and beyond and more. You are our lives and all we live for. Remember these words - you are enough. There will be many days when you feel like everything is going wrong, and that you cannot do it. Push those words out of your head. You are more than enough, and you can do anything. You will have to fight against the glass ceiling, the glass walls, and the glass slipper syndrome, but you are built to shatter ceilings.

There will be times when giving your best will drain everything out of you. You will feel lifeless, you will feel worthless, but that is the moment where you will show the world what you are made of. You will show them the power that comes from inside. You will show them the good and the God that is inside of you. Enjoy your life as much as you can. We want you to run through the wilds of the countryside, lay in the sand, dance in the rain, jump in muddy puddles, laugh at the sunlight and twirl under the moonlight. Experience every sensation and feeling.

Life is to be enjoyed, so remember to revel in those small moments that seem to pass so quickly. Those moments will get you through dark moments. Those moments will always be the crack in the doorway to light. Never take those things for granted. It’s okay to make mistakes; that’s how you will grow. It’s okay to fall in love and get hurt; that’s how you learn. It’s okay to cry; It’s how you become strong. It’s okay to jump; that’s how you will learn how to fly. It is okay to live; that’s how we become okay with dying. Never forget to live. As you both grow, and school work, actual work, responsibilities, family start to close in on you, make sure you stay true to you and that you find time to live. Don’t apologize for putting yourself first sometimes. People will try to make you feel bad for choosing you! Always choose you! You are no good to anyone else until you take care of yourself! So put yourself first and then go and love and help the world, especially those most in need! Love Mammy and Daddy.

Let me leave you with this prayer poem by Jess Ulrichs called "May She Always Know" - I want my daughter to know her own strength, to know love without borders, and dream at great length. I hope she is brave, and I hope she reads books, when people say she’s pretty - she’ll know it’s more than her looks. For she’s pretty smart, and she’s pretty kind. May she be heard for her voice, and seen for her mind. As she grows into a woman I hope she stands strong. For some will try to knock her, but I hope she holds on. Because her power is great, and cannot be measured. Her passion and vulnerability should always be treasured. May she know the difference between right and wrong, not because of some rules, but what is in her heart’s song. May she question the narrative, make choices, speak clearly. May she never repeat herself out of doubt or fear. May she strive for big things in a world that screams thin, just as a man’s size does not define him. I hope she sticks up for those who need it, herself included; I hope she believes it. May no one dim her light, May it shine May it grow What a force that she is. May she always know. Amen