The Tryin Times is dedicated to being a leader, demonstrating a growth mindset, and helping others cross the goal line. We all go through tough times but when the times get tough, it’s often the people around us who help us do what we need to do to score. We win, we lose, we laugh, we cry. The game of life is every person’s unconscious pursuit, and we all have to play. Before we are old enough to do anything, our parents are what lead us into the light.
I wanted to take this Sunday AM to talk a bit about what it means to be a good father. I was fortunate to have a great father, so despite the reality that I have no spawn of my own, I have seen what a great father is, because I had one.
Not everyone has, including him. Whenever my childish ego would begin to creep and crawl over my persona growing up, he would be sure to remind me of how grateful I should be. I was fortunate. Not everyone is. He was able to communicate well with me, and cared enough to help me understand rather than quit on me when I didn’t. He was not afraid to let me face fears and adventure on my own, barring I kept a tight level of discipline to myself, my family and the people who got me here. He attended almost every sporting event I ever participated in, including observing practice sometimes in younger days to get a good honest idea of my effort, energy and body language.
He taught me a lot about life, after a life lived learning how to. He wasn’t as fortunate to have a great father, or a good one, or much of one at all. As I age, and continue to evolve and grow as a man, with each year I respect my father more and more. With each year I grow more grateful to a higher power that people like my father exist. Because they are few and far between.
To anyone out there who may not have the greatest story when talking about fathers, fatherhood, or who may not have the best relationship with their son, there is a chance you can write a better next chapter. I’ve seen my father do that with my brother and I. You have the power to invent a new life, a new perspective, a new world. Everything you didn’t have, you can give. I’ve seen my father do it.
And if you had any decent relationship with your Dad, if he meant anything at all to you, be thankful. Because not everyone has one. Show him that no matter how big or small, he made a difference in your life.
Thanks for reading guys, Happy Father’s Day.
Here’s a great demonstration.
