Why Do You Do What You Do?

I can remember as a kid wondering what it was like for my dad when he went to work. I’d watch him sit on the side of the bed and put his socks on after he’d already taken a shower, almost a sort of ritual as far as my memory can serve me. I would ask him random questions as he got ready for work to get some insight as far as when he planned on getting home or what he was going to do that day. I always got boring old answers from my Dad, which in retrospect tells me nothing more than he was just doing his duty to provide for his family and did not have a great desire for his work. At the time, his answers didn’t mean a whole lot except for the part of when he was going to get home. I just wanted my Dad around. My Dad never woke up and danced around singing as if he couldn’t wait to go to work, he just “ho-hum” got ready and went off as if he was programmed like a robot. Today as I think back, I am almost sad for him. My Dad passed away some seven years ago, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. He was a good man, and loved his family immensely. There is one question that I would love to ask him if he were alive today. “What would you do differently if you knew yesterday what you know today?”

When I think back of my Dad, I could never say anything in the terms of how happy he was or how much he loved his life. He just, lived. I do not want to make my father sound like some boring old miserable person because that would be a far cry from the truth. My Dad, in his own way, showed more love to me and my brothers, than the world could shoulder. He just never portrayed a whole lot of love or passion for his own essence. I could argue in my father’s defense that it was just how it was for the majority in his generation and that many were like him and did not show a whole lot of emotion, just sort of drifted through life. One thing I am certain of is that I am who I am today as a direct result of who my father was and would not want him to have been any different than what he was. But, would he?

This is my point to this entire article. Would my Dad, if he had the opportunity to do it all over again, change anything? We will never know, but I ask that same question to you. You are alive and well and do have the opportunity to make a change. Are you happy with what you do? I challenge you to fast forward your life a number of years. If you continue doing what you do, is it possible to be where you want to be in the future? I am in no way telling you to live for tomorrow and not for today in the moment, but I am opening your eyes to tomorrow and its possibilities while on the path you are currently on. You be your own judge and stand up for yourself. No one can do it for you.

What will your kids say of you when your time comes?