What is the measure of a man

As years slip by with increasing speed, one pauses to ponder, what is the measure of a man?
Is it the number of respects paid
Is it the number of tears shed upon his passage?
Or is it perhaps, the net positive imprint he leaves on the world?
Perhaps it is all three
What did you do?
How did you love?
What impact did you leave?
Even if only by way of having taught us which path not to take, teachers are the most impactful people in our lives
And our first teachers are our parents
My father was a great man.
He was never rich yet had wealth beyond measure in the circle of friends who loved him and came to pay their respects upon his passage from this domain.
Down the hall, out the door and down the street, this was the description of the alleged line of people who came to pay respects to our father.
I never verified the truth of it, i just accepted it was so, because it was abundantly credible to me.
And I wanted to believe it
By that measure of a man, his were shoes I could never fill
My best hope for any real measure is to teach what not to do
Because I tried too much it, and I learned the hard way, it was a bad idea
I would implore you, Listen to that still small voice of conscience on your shoulder
While it does not have all the answers, it will try to stop you from life alteringly bad decisions
Never surrender your heart or soul to anyone or anything but the good, the light
There are choices you can make that will derail your train such that you will never get it back on the tracks again.
Ever.
Mind your good intentions, your heart and your soul, and do what is right, even if no one else is doing it.
Even if that means you walk alone
Sometimes, it only takes one spark to light up the dark
And it is in the dark that a spark shines brightest
This is no high art, no classic rhythm and rhyme, I am not a learned man
But there is a truth here, and it would serve you to learn it:
Love is the root of all good things
LOVE TO YOU ALL