One of the most touching things one can experience in life is when someone you mentored never forgets to send you a gift or a thank you note on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, or even Mother’s Day!
They remember to say thank you… even after decades have passed. Their gratitude is constant.
While very few are like this, what matters is that we are grateful for our mentors and PRAY for them, are respectful to them, and never forget that we probably won’t be where we are now if they didn’t bother to teach and train us, if they didn’t give us the breaks we sorely needed to build up our self-confidence and skill sets.
A proud person easily forgets the people who helped him get to where he is.
Worse yet, a proud person can even turn his back on his mentors, and even malign them. I guess this is what it means to “bite the hand that feeds you,” or fed you.
A little taste of success can make some people into little despots who think they’re invincible.
The sad thing is, people like this have stamped expiration dates on themselves. One day, their success will wane, or they will miserably fall from grace. We’ve seen this happen… and the sight is painful to see. Some never recover.
That’s why I’m so thankful to my mom who taught me not to forget the people who taught me invaluable work skills and life lessons; mentors who believed in me and gave me the breaks I needed; people who were generous to me with their time, connections, and resources.
I’ve intentionally and persistently gone out of my way, over the past decades, to show them how grateful I am for what they’ve done for me.
One of the best ways is to ask how I could pray for them, and to keep things confidential.
Another is to spend a weekend out of town together, just to unwind and recalibrate with common friends.
Or getting a no-occasion gift which you know your former mentor will definitely love but would probably never buy for himself/herself. Or look for a restaurant that serves their favorite food – but with a new ambience, an interesting twist. Or watch a play, a concert, or listen to a band together which you know they’ll really enjoy.
Many times, an impromptu coffee date comes with unlimited cups of happy hormones! It’s amazing how hilarious and entertaining past failures can be when you’re reminiscing about them 20 years down the road.
Whenever I reach out to my former mentors to spend time with them, I know it’s really God’s way of keeping me humble, of reminding me how inadequate and immature and unskilled I was before these mentors came into my life!
My mentors are now my closest friends – and we’ve been close friends for decades. One of them (a former boss) already passed away. I thank God that He gave me the privilege of bringing this mentor to Bible studies where he eventually surrendered His life to Christ, and went with us to worship services for many years, before he went to heaven.
My mentors believed in me. They invested in me. They sacrificed big chunks of their time, energy and resources for me.
It’s my deepest honor to keep speaking well of them, to keep giving them credit for what they taught me and helped me achieve.
God keeps reminding me to this day that they were His arms and legs who kept me going.
I’m forever, profoundly grateful to them.
