Nain’s Advice

Nain is the Welsh word for grand­mother. My nain Gwenda Thain was born on this day in 1922. In hon­our of her birth­day, I’d like to share some of the advice she’s given me this week:

• Be hon­est with your­self and fol­low your convictions.
• You’ve got to keep your own coun­cil. No one knows what I’m up to at any time.
• When I have a con­fronta­tion I smile a lot.
• Over time a rela­tion­ship becomes eas­ier. You grow kinder toward one another and make more allowances.
• Col­lect garbage if that makes you happy; it doesn’t mat­ter what peo­ple think.
• When­ever there is a prob­lem and peo­ple are inquir­ing you just smile and say, “I’m fine.” They don’t need to know.
• Lis­ten care­fully to any­one who gives you advice.
• You’re got to face things straight on, or they’ll still be there like a cancer
• If they ask you if you can do it, say you can. In 1963, they asked us, “Can any­one use a comp­tome­ter?” I told them I knew how. They’ll always show you once any­way. Just watch closely.
• Edu­ca­tion is the most impor­tant thing in life for any­body. With edu­ca­tion you can con­quer the world.
• Tim­o­thy, be strong for your­self. You haven’t walked 31 years of your life for nothing.
• You’ve got to love your­self. That is important.
• Don’t go sec­ond rate on anything.
• Read­ing this out to my Nain, my mom adds, “And don’t tell lies.” To which my Nain responds, “Oh no. You’ve got to lie if it suits the world.”

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