As my wife and I await our first child that we are bringing into this world (she's already 4 days past her due date), I wanted to share somewhere the lessons that I hope to share with him and any child that I have the priceless opportunity to raise from here on out, and I thought what better place than this wonderful community.
These are the lessons that I ultimately try to live by and hope to teach my children to live by as well.
Above all else, treat others the way you want to be treated.
Be who you are and say what you feel. Honestly. Earnestly. A lot of the time you will have people tell you that is completely wrong, and that you should hide who you really are to fit in, or because people will treat you differently because of it. At times, that may feel like the best way to handle a situation. However, if you are surrounding yourself with people and situations where you can't ultimately be who you want to be, you will not live happily.
There are many more ways to measure success than the money you make, the possessions you own, the job you work, the schools you attend, the grades you achieve, or the trophies you win.
Never be afraid of failure or being wrong, or to admit when you are wrong.
It is OK to love someone of the same gender, or the opposite gender, or more than one person. It is OK to explore your sexuality with the person or people you love, but remember that you must also be respectful of the other participants, their bodies, their boundaries, and their wishes. You are free to love whoever you want, however you want, but above all else, true love must be mutual.
You are free to practice any religion you choose and believe anything you want to believe, no matter how disconnected from my own beliefs they may be. However, never allow your religious beliefs to stand in the way of being good to and respecting other people and their rights. Being good to other human beings supercedes anything that your religion may teach you to do.
Support any political party you want. Be as involved in or as removed from politics as you want. However, if you choose to support specific political leaders, make sure they prove that they have integrity. If you choose to support specific causes, make sure they are causes that make the world a better place in which to live. And if you choose not to participate at all, don't complain when things aren't the way you want them to be.
In summary: My love for you is unconditional. But that doesn't mean I will stand by and allow you to be a dick to others.