A Father’s Inspiration (The Story of Superman)

A very best Father’s day to all dads out there. Thanks for being so awesome.

I just got done speaking to my Dad and it really got me thinking.

I haven’t been able to spend father’s day with my dad for a number of years now (at least since I’m here in Atlanta and he is back home in Antigua. I think of him every day though, as he certainly moulded me in his light and for that I am grateful.

You see I’m a preA very best Father’s day to all dads out there. Thanks for being so awesome.

I just got done speaking to my Dad and it really got me thinking.

I haven’t been able to spend father’s day with my dad for a number of years now (at least since I’m here in Atlanta and he is back home in Antigua. I think of him every day though, as he certainly moulded me in his light and for that I am grateful.

You see I’m a pretty hard nosed kind of guy. I don’t do well with “No”, or “You can’t do this”, or “You can’t do that” and I kind of love it when someone downright thinks that I’m down and out or that I can’t overcome something. That really inspires me and makes me ready to kick some @$$.

I get alot of that from my dad. You see he used to be an airline pilot until I was around 7 or 8 years old when he found out that he had a brain tumor. I do remember that I was young enough to not remember how serious the matter really was since my dad was “Superman” and there was nothing that he could not overcome.

So he ventured to New York, by himself at that to have his operation. I mean can you imagine the “gonads” to go to have a brain operation by yourself? I remember being at home and answering a phone call a few nights after he had his operation and being so happy to hear his voice followed by hearing “Superman” cry at the sound of my little voice (I still couldn’t understand the magnitude of the moment at that time).

I can only imagine that his thought at the moment was that he had beaten the odds and escaped the jaws of death and this was confirmed by being able to talk to his family again.

That alone is enough to inspire me to never give up, no matter the odds against me. So many times it has felt as if I’ve been down and out yet I’m just not very good at giving up.  Thank you Pops for giving me that grit, that steel to build my foundation on persistence.

My Dad loved me when he should have, and was hard on me when he was supposed to be.  So on this day when so many of the father’s in our culture are more concerned with other things than their children; I just wanted to say kudos to those who are there to love and inspire their children and who step up to the plate to make a difference.

Without my dad you probably would not be reading this today as I probably would have decided to stick with the joys (just a hint of sarcasm) of my corporate job.

Instead I’ve pushed forward towards my goals as I recognized that there is just no way to make a significant difference in your family’s lives by working for someone else. My Dad always told me this but it can be so easy to mistake the success of a corporate job with any sort of freedom.

No matter how great a job that you have you are still limited in your income potential and in your  vacation time.  So after his operation his flying days were done and he moved on to his great time of entrepreneurship, gas stations ,helicopters, boats, computers.  Everything did not pan out but he made it work.

So parents be sure to instill in your children a little bit more than the age old adage of “go to school, get good grades and get a good job.”

Instead encourage them to take the road less traveled. Encourage them to be their own boss and take their lives into their own hands.  Above all else though encourage them to do something that they LOVE.  They will be happier if they know that. All you need to do is support them in their happiness.

Life will throw you some curveballs but at least they’ll know what to expect when they come up to bat.  Superman taught me to bat so I KNOW I’m going to be hitting homeruns.

Clarence Budington Kelland
He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.

Anonymous
Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.

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