To be perfectly honest, we didn’t know what we’d get when we posed this question to our Facebook community. After nearly 600 comments in the “What is one important thing you learned from your dad?” thread, what we discovered is that historically, far too many men have not lived up to the title of ‘dad’ but in reading through the heartfelt comments from moms and dads alike, we get the sense that this generation of fathers will not make those same mistakes. We also get the sense that inspiration comes in many shapes…and we were reminded that sometimes it’s best to have a few tissues nearby when reading the Life of Dad Facebook page.

We’ve all learned something from our dad, whether that’s to be a better man than he was or how to throw a curve ball. Here are some of the lessons from dad as told by the Life of Dad community:

“Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet the sweaty things.” — Jeremy Stone

Sweat, while not a common theme, did come up again because of Scott Seymour’s dad’s great advice: “My father taught me how to earn everything by the sweat of my brow and to be proud of what’s mine.”

“Work hard and never let any boy (man) take advantage of you. He’s always told me I was a strong independent person. At almost 30 I still look up to my dad.” — Amber Finch

“So many many things. Love, laughter and the importance of family. In his final days his words of wisdom. “Don’t be sad. Life is for the living. Go out and live” — Alice C Jensen

“I learned that time is not promised and that that the best thing my father ever gave me was his time.” — Ruben Dario Fernandez

“My dad always tells me, even now. You can not regret the things you have done, only the things you have not done.” — Steph Evans

“I have learned that I will NEVER give up on being the best dad I can be to my beautiful little girl.” – Tommy Edwards

“He taught me to be independent. Make my own money. Always have a strong handshake.” — Lucia Isabel Sanchez

“To pay it forward because no matter how much you think your life sucks, someone has it worse and they deserve good thoughts and help.” — Amy McDonald-Herrmann

‘”Empty vessels make the most noise” – which reminds me not to rise to the bait when idiots are spouting nonsense.” – Linzi Anderson

“Respect all living things, treat everyone as equal because you have no idea of the life they have lived and what they are going through.” — Duck-Fat Green

“Don’t spend more than you make.” — Jason Ross Decker

“The man that became my father never expected 100’s for grades all the time, but he did expect 100% effort all the time” — Nicholas Francis

“If you can look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and know you did the right thing, that’s what counts.” — Molly Horner DeCaro

What did your father teach you? Keep the conversation going on the Life of Dad Facebook!

*Flickr photo by Amateur Photography by Michel, shared under Creative Commons license.